Blackpool’s historic Pleasure Beach Arena is filled with the sound of crackling ice.

Then a spotlight settles on a lone blade, spiralling across a patch of ice at breakneck speed. As the lights dazzle, there are flashes of steel around the rink, signalling the start of Hot Ice, one of the world’s most spectacular ice shows.

Breathtaking lifts and stunts are woven into romantic, sexy, funny and action-packed routines performed by a 28-strong troupe of world-class skaters.

Featuring 250 gorgeous costumes and an array of lights and pyrotechnics, the show is a riot of colour and movement, taking audiences through Vegas cabarets, Viennese ballrooms, African jungles, smouldering Cuban streets, Emerald Isle forests and New York jazz clubs.

Skaters fly 30ft above the rink, as fireballs erupt on the ice surface. A glimmering staircase appears, illuminated with 700 lightbulbs, and each ice-dancer spins, leaps and glides across the rink using a range of props, including whips, a bicycle and a huge ‘hamster wheel’.

I’d seen a couple of live ice shows before, and, while technically impressive, I found them a bit monotonous. But Hot Ice is so fast-paced and packed full of stunts, props and spectacular special effects, you barely have time to draw breath. At times it’s like watching a Busby Berkley spectacular unfolding on a shimmering frozen stage.

Hot Ice follows a long-running tradition of ice shows in Blackpool. Skating spectaculars have been thrilling audiences at the Pleasure Beach since 1937, with Winston Churchill and Torvill and Dean among spectators over the years.

I spot Daniel Whiston, winner of ITV’s Dancing On Ice, sitting a few rows from me. Blackpool-born Daniel was in Hot Ice for 11 years, and several other skaters from the show have gone on to do Dancing On Ice.

Hot Ice is performed in the 1,566-seater arena, part of the Pleasure Beach for more than 70 years. Producer and director Amanda Thompson is managing director of Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Group.

The great-grandaughter of Pleasure Beach founder William George Bean, Amanda follows in his footsteps as head of the tourist attraction. As president of Stageworks Worldwide Productions, the entertainment division of Pleasure Beach, she devises stage and ice shows with such choreographers as Olympic champion Robin Cousins.

Amanda describes Hot Ice as “a pure canvas”, where creativity explodes like a colourful painting, with “flashes of steel across the ice, like magpies picking up glistening trinkets.”

Wearing fabulous costumes festooned with feathers and rhinestones, the skaters – all international figure-skating champions – have the power, speed and strength of trained athletes and the grace and elegance of ballerinas, balancing on an edge of steel.

It all looks so effortless. One couple draw gasps when the male skater lifts his female partner with one hand, before she ends up lying across his head, spinning around unsupported!

To a toe-tapping score comprising swing, pop, big band, Latin and African tribal beats, the ice dancers move with razor-sharp precision, occasionally breaking off for romantic pas de deux, dramatic tangos and triple axels, or breathtaking stunts involving fire torches, silk scarves, and even a bath full of water.

With 40 props and illusions in each performance, the state-of-the-art spectacular requires a huge amount of technical expertise and equipment; not least a flying system elevating skaters via motorised lift mechanisms, custom gas and CO2 jet systems generating flameballs, jets and plumes, and 1,000 lighting cues taking lighting designers 200 hours to programme.

After the show it’s a short walk back to the Big Blue hotel, where my spacious room overlooks the seafront. The decor is contemporary chic, with a sink-into sofa, flat-screen TV and WiFi internet access. The stylish four-star hotel is walking distance from Blackpool’s main attractions. Family room facilities include bunk-beds and Playstation connections, and deluxe suites have Juliet balconies overlooking the Pleasure Beach.

As a child, I loved Blackpool Pleasure Beach and it still holds a place in my heart. High in the sky above the Big Blue Hotel stands the Pepsi Max Big One; Europe’s tallest, fastest roller coaster. Plunging down its 235ft sheer drop, I feel as invincible as an ice dancer spiralling through the air.