Dancing Dream

On Saturday, I went to see Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This new narrative ballet was commissioned by the National Ballet from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. The story hewed closely to the book with 2 major changes. First, the story opens in "real life" with Henry and Lorina Liddell preparing to host an out-door party for some important guests. Meanwhile, Lewis Carroll was entertaining their daughters including Alice Liddell (Jillian Vanstone) with stories and magic tricks. This "prologue" allows, via story and choreography, an introduction to various characters who will return later in their alter ego form such as Carroll/White Rabbit (Dylan Tedaldi), Mrs. Liddell/Queen of Hearts (Greta Hodgkinson), Rajah/The Caterpillar (Harrison James) and so on. The 2nd change was the addition of a budding love-interest for Alice in the form of Jack/The Knave of Hearts (Naoya Ebe).

The 3 acts were replete with fantastical effects: both practical via puppets and computer-generated projections and imaginative stage scenery and props to portray scenes from the book including Alice's shrinkage and growth, the Hatter's Tea Party, the Duchess' cottage, and the Royal gardens including the famous croquet match. I thought the piece was a little too busy especially in Act I. Trying to fit all the scenes from the book, not to mention their episodic nature, lead to frantic and fragmentary segments. You just want to have some time to absorb the scene.

The shorter Act II and III were much better. We get a few key scenes with extended choreography. There was time for some solo footwork for the main characters as well as a couple of delicate pas-de-deux between Alice and the Knave. The solos for the White Rabbit and The Caterpillar cleverly evoked their animal nature. The Queen had several hilarious scenes as her short temper made her dance partners/court retainers scared and jittery. This led to intentionally "bad" lifts and footwork that made her look ridiculous. Overall, this was an enjoyable and easily accessible production, as seen by the many young kids in the audience. This may become as much a summer favourite (i.e., cash cow) as the annual "winter tradition" of The Nutcracker.