Decadent costumes, somersaulting gymnasts and camp extravagance are the typical images most people in this country associate with Holiday On Ice.

Over the Channel, on the other hand, our European friends are mad for it and those of all ages can be seen turning up in herds to watch the talented skaters swirl and dance their way around the rink.

The powers that be are well aware of this discrepancy and are determined to turn perceptions around and do for the age-old skating show what Cirque de Soleil did for the circus.

The world of Holiday On Ice was born 60 years ago, before airplane culture took off and when hardly anyone travelled.

Like the circus, the performers constantly toured the world with the show, living out of caravans and working to a tough schedule of performances practically every day.

They married each other, had babies and kept their family units together as they continued to travel en masse with their work which had become as much a way of life as a job.

Entertainment of such an international calibre was rarely, if ever, seen in the destinations to which the caravans toured which meant the camp extravaganza reached a wide and varied audience almost unheard of in its time.

This no doubt contributed to the show's rapid and unparalleled rise in opularity.

Although it still commands a fervent following, times have changed in 60 years and the big guys at Holiday On Ice recognise they have to change with them to maintain their position, modifying their formula to fit a younger audience.

This task is being tackled and experimented with through various methods. The clowns and their slapstick routines have, to the relief of many, been thrown out on their ear.

Themes and storylines in recent years have tended to follow a post-modern style and shows, such as last year's Colours Of Dance, featured skaters parading about in and costumes of cut-off denim shorts to music from the likes of Geri Halliwell and The Backstreet Boys.

This year's show, In Concert, continues in this vein by replacing the traditional recorded, tinny-sounding musical score with a live band playing on a stage that slides across the ice.

As well as the usual acrobatic acts, the new show gets hip with two rollerbladers, multimedia effects which include projections, lighting and video and occasional guest stars such as Sophie Ellis Bextor and Leo Sayer to attract a younger market.

The show is choreographed by Brighton-based Olympic gold medalist Robin Cousins who took charge of previous shows Xotica and Colours Of Dance.

"I know a lot of people were very mixed in their feelings about what Holiday On Ice was trying to do and where it was going," says Cousins.

"They felt it was moving away from a traditional ice show but I think it was a necessary move in order to be able to move forward. You can't get complacent and you always need to strive to compete with what else is out there."

In today's cosmopolitan world where shows now tour internationally as a matter of course, the on-the-road nature of each Holiday On Ice show no longer gives it the edge over its competitors.

Tastes and audiences have moved on and its creators' drive to innovate content, style and music in order to allow this famous institution to survive is both understandable and necessary.

Yet, watching the premier of In Concert in Amsterdam, I was struck with how much more I preferred the more traditional sequences.

The musicians were all talented and entertaining, the inline skaters were breathtaking and it would be difficult to actually fault anything - yet it was with the thrilling, accelerating chain of skaters, the glittering costumes, the aerial acrobat and, of course, those spins, somersaults and axels that the magic really came alive.

The two main guest stars of that night accentuated this impression.

Seventies crooner Leo Sayer clearly loved every minute as he entered the performance on a podium sliding over the ice, singing his classic You Make Me Feel Like Dancing to a blonde glamour girl skating seductively around him.

Sayer's joy was contagious and he was a sensation to watch, a keen contrast to the young, hip popstrel Sophie Ellis Bextor, who seemed out-of-place and bland in comparison.

It's not that the modernisation of Holiday On Ice doesn't work. Like pantos which incorporate recent songs and personalities from popular culture without taking away anything from the traditional formula, the spectacular doesn't have to lose anything as it is brought up to date.

It is those very roots which gives the show its difference and edge. There's nothing wrong with modern additions but it isn't those bits which make it great.

In Concert is showing at The Brighton Centre until Sunday, February 2 and will feature a guest appearance from Leo Sayer every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There are various start times and tickets cost £10.25 to £26. Call 0870 900 9100.