Dancing in Wonderland
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 6, 2024
Exactly five years after its last run, Christopher Wheeldon’s hugely successful and family friendly “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was brought back to the Toronto stage, scheduled to coincide with March break. The strategy paid off as the run was completely sold out – something that does not generally happen unless the ballet starts with “Swan” and ends with “Lake”. Thirteen years after its world premiere in London by The Royal Ballet, this full length work remains as striking, comical and playful as ever. It still feels very much like a ballet for contemporary sensibilities. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” blends clever wit and impressive special effects while maintaining a fast pace to cater to short attention spans. It is not surprising that it is now performed around the world, most recently by the Australian Ballet and the Bavarian State Ballet.
This production is a concerted team effort, with Wheeldon’s quirky choreography, Joby Talbot’s whimsical music, Nicholas Wright’s succinct libretto, Bob Crowley’s imaginative costume and set designs, and Jon Driscoll and Gemma Carrington’s screen projections. The whole here is truly greater than the sum of its parts. The elements work together to create a dazzling dramatic effect. That said, in terms of actual dancing, this is not a meaty ballet filled with interesting choreography. With all the extra elements (Puppets! Video projections! Strobe lighting!) it is the opposite of a pure dance work. Whereas George Balanchine’s leotard ballets like “Agon” or “The Four Temperaments” stripped away costumes and sets to spotlight his inventive choreography, the choreography for “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” would be quite bland without all the bells and whistles (to be fair, Wheeldon is very capable of creating pure dance works; this is just not one of them). Technically difficult steps are thrown in, but the transitions between them are quite predictable. At times, dancers need to figure out how to manoeuvre and interact with tricky props, which can take away from the dancing itself. More memorable than the steps are the characterizations that each of the dancers came up with. This ballet gives the performers a rare opportunity to sink their teeth into some kooky comedy.
In Wheeldon’s version, the action begins with a garden party before Alice tumbles down the proverbial rabbit hole into Wonderland. Characters at the party including her parents, the gardener’s son (Jack), and family friend (Lewis Carroll) end up reappearing in different guises in Wonderland. Often the Wonderland version of a character reflects traits seen in the real world version, but taken to extremes. For instance, Alice’s mother is high strung and stern at the garden party. In Wonderland, she becomes the Queen of Hearts – a blood thirsty tyrant.
During this run, all four dancers cast as Alice were making their debuts. The opening night show went to a very deserving Tirion Law. She is a second soloist but has some experience with principal roles (Juliet and the Sugar Plum Fairy) under her belt. This youthful, petite soubrette is a natural choice for Alice who in this production is an adolescent rather than a child (a smart artistic decision as it allows for a love story that gives the work a romantic arc). Despite a phenomenal and eclectic cast of supporting characters, Law holds her own as Alice and does not let anyone steal the show. She brought a nuanced characterization to the title role. Far from a passive observer, her Alice has agency and a sense of her own values. She is a smart and courageous teen on the brink of womanhood. In this libretto, she is on a quest to find and save her love interest – the Knave of Hearts – which helps give the ballet direction and flow. Like Odysseus, she is on a hero’s journey. Law depicts Alice as kind and generous, but also someone that is not afraid to speak up and stand her ground, even when scared or confused. The role must be exhausting as she is almost continuously on stage with very few breaks, but if she was tired it did not show. She executed Wheeldon’s choreography with precision and texture, all the while taking the audience on an epic emotional journey.
As her partner, Naoya Ebe brought virtuoso technique and strong partnering to the role of Jack/The Knave of Hearts. He is the archetypal “good guy” and boy next door. He does not have a lot of opportunities to add much character development to the role. It is somewhat of a stock role. While Alice is transformed over the course of the ballet, Jack/The Knave of Hearts basically remains the same throughout. When Alice gives him a jam tart at the garden party, her mother mistakenly believes he stole it and banishes him. This is used as an avenue to show common childhood injustices and how it riles up the protagonist. Ebe did very well with the Knave’s variation in the final act, showing off switch leaps and crispy clean double tours en l’air.
In the dual role of Lewis Carroll and the White Rabbit, Donald Thom made a solid debut. He becomes more and more rabbit-like as the ballet progresses both in costume and mannerism. Naturally, his variation in Wonderland is filled with jumps and nervous twitches. It was his attention to small details such as hand gestures or the way he looked over his tinted spectacles that gave dimension to his interpretation. As the Mother/Queen of Hearts, Svetlana Lunkina was brilliantly funny and campy. Rex Harrington incited pity as the resigned and ineffectual Father/King of Hearts. Other standouts included Peng-Fei Jiang as the smooth and seductive Caterpillar (only in Wonderland could seductive and caterpillar belong in the same sentence!) and Ben Rudisin as the tap dancing Mad Hatter. The corps de ballet also did a wonderful job, especially in the waltz of the flowers section which had some of the most robust and sustained dancing in the production.
No work can be everything to everyone, but Wheeldon’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” sure tries and does admirably well in its broad appeal. While a bit thin on the dancing, there really is something for audience members of all ages and interests. Perhaps it can serve as a bridge to draw in the theatre or musical-going crowd. Certainly, it is an engaging work that can be brought back every few years, which is more than can be said for other recent (and expensive) full-length works the company has commissioned such as “Le Petit Prince” or “Pinocchio”.
copyright © 2024 by Denise Sum
