Christopher Wheelon's ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND Opens Tonight at Lincoln Center

The Joyce Theater Foundation and The National Ballet of Canada today announced the casting for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, having its New York premiere at the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center today, September 9 - 14, 2014.

The title role of Alice will be performed by Principal Dancers Jillian Vanstone and Sonia Rodriguez and First Soloist Elena Lobsanova. Jack/The Knave of Hearts will be danced by Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté and First Soloist Naoya Ebe. Making his debut in the role is new Principal Dancer Evan McKie. The role of Lewis Carroll/The White Rabbit will be performed by Second Soloist Dylan Tedaldi, Principal Dancer Piotr Stanczyk and First Soloist Robert Stephen. Principal Dancers Greta Hodgkinson and Xiao Nan Yu will dance the role of Mother/The Queen of Hearts and making her debut in the role is new Principal Dancer Svetlana Lunkina.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, choreographedby Christopher Wheeldon, combines Lewis Carroll's classic children's narrative with an energetic and riveting score by British composer Joby Talbot, spectacular sets and costumes by Tony Award-winning designer Bob Crowley and lighting by Natasha Katz.

This production, which had its world premiere by The Royal Ballet at London's Royal Opera House in 2011 and its North American premiere by the National Ballet in Toronto in 2011, will be the fourth Joyce Theater presentation at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater since 2012, following Sylvie Guillem's 6000 miles away, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Ballet Preljocaj's Snow White. Tickets for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are on sale and can be arranged online at www.DavidHKochTheater.com or by calling (212)-496-0600.

PRINCIPAL CASTING:

ALICE

Jillian Vanstone (September 9, 11 at 7:30 pm/September 13 at 8:00 pm)

Sonia Rodriguez (September 10, at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm)

Elena Lobsanova (September 13, 14, at 2:00 pm)

JACK/THE KNAVE OF HEARTS

Guillaume Côté (September 9, 11 at 7:30 pm/September 13, at 8:00 pm)

Naoya Ebe (September 10 at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm)

Evan McKie* (September 13, 14 at 2:00 pm)

LEWIS CARROLL/THE WHITE RABBIT

Dylan Tedaldi (September 9, 11 at 7:30 pm/September 13 at 8:00 pm)

Robert Stephen (September 10 at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm)

Piotr Stanczyk (September 13, 14 at 2:00 pm)

MOTHER/THE QUEEN OF HEARTS

Greta Hodgkinson (September 9, 11 at 7:30 pm/September 13 at 8:00 pm)

Svetlana Lunkina* (September 10, at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm)

Xiao Nan Yu (September 13, 14, at 2:00 pm)

FATHER/THE KING OF HEARTS

Rex Harrington (September 9, 10, 11, at 7:30 pm/September 12, 13 at 8:00 pm/September 13, 14 at 2:00 pm)

MAGICIAN/THE MAD HATTER

Robert Stephen (September 9, 11, at 7:30 pm/September 13 at 2:00 pm/September 13 at 8:00 pm)

Jack Bertinshaw (September 10 at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm/September 14 at 2:00 pm)

RAJAH/THE CATERPILLAR

McGee Maddox* (September 9, 11 at 7:30 pm/September 13 at 8:00 pm)

Harrison James* (September 10 at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm)

Patrick Lavoie (September 13, 14 at 2:00 pm)

THE DUTCHESS

Piotr Stanczyk* (September 9, 11 at 7:30 pm)

Jonathan Renna (September 10 at 7:30 pm/September 12 at 8:00 pm)

James Leja (September 13, 14 at 2:00 pm)

* Debut
All casting subject to change.

CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON (Choreographer)

Christopher Wheeldon joined New York City Ballet (NYCB) in 1993 and was promoted to Soloist in 1998. He served as NYCB's first-ever Artist in Residence in 2000/01 and was named NYCB's first Resident Choreographer in July 2001. Since then, he has choreographed at least one ballet a year for NYCB. Outside the ballet world, Mr. Wheeldon has choreographed Dance of the Hours for the Metropolitan Opera's production of Ponchielli's La Gioconda (2006), as well as ballet sequences for the feature film Center Stage (2000) and Sweet Smell of Success on Broadway (2002). In 2007, Mr. Wheeldon founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. In 2009, Mr. Wheeldon worked with Richard Eyre on a production of the opera Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera House and in 2010 his new version of The Sleeping Beauty had its premiere with The Royal Danish Ballet. His full-length ballet Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was created as a co-production of The National Ballet of Canada and The Royal Ballet and premiered at the Royal Opera House on 28 February 2011. Thirteen Diversions (created for American Ballet Theatre 2011) and Les Carrillons world premiere formed an all Wheeldon evening at the NYCB in January 2012. In April 2014, Mr. Wheeldon's full-length version of The Winter's Tale, a co-production between The National Ballet of Canada and The Royal Ballet, premiered in London at the Royal Opera House. In the Fall of 2014, he will be directing and choreographing a musical version of An American in Paris which will premiere in Paris at the Châtelet Theatre. Mr. Wheeldon's awards include the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, the American Choreography Award, a Dance Magazine Award, the London Critics' Circle Award for Best New Ballet for Polyphonia, two time Olivier Award winner most recently for Aeternum choreographed in January 2013 for The Royal Ballet. Mr. Wheeldon's recent production of Cinderella won the 2013 Benois De La Danse.

JOBY TALBOT (Composer)

Born in Wimbledon in 1971, Joby Talbot studied composition privately with Brian Elias and at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College before completing a Master of Music (Composition) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Simon Bainbridge. His works include a trumpet concerto for Alison Balsom and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Desolation Wilderness, 2006); a 60-minute a cappella choral journey along the Camino de Santiago for Nigel Short's Tenebrae (Path of Miracles, 2005); arrangements of songs by Detroit rock duo The White Stripes alongside existing works for Wayne McGregor's Chroma (The Royal Ballet, 2006); and, as a co-production with The National Ballet of Canada, Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011), the first full-length narrative ballet score to be commissioned by The Royal Ballet in 20 years. He has also written the madrigal The Wishing Tree (The King's Singers, 2002), the orchestral Sneaker Wave (BBC National Orchestra of Wales, 2004) and an arrangement of Purcell's Chacony in G minor for the BBC Proms (BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2011). Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity was commissioned in 2012 for the Philharmonia Orchestra's interactive digital installation, Universe of Sound, as an addition to Holst's The Planets. Tide Harmonic (2009), a work for large ensemble, began life as the score for Eau by choreographer Carolyn Carlson and CCN Roubaix. Other significant works written or adapted for dance include Fool's Paradise (Christopher Wheeldon and Morphoses, 2007), an arrangement of Mr. Talbot's 2002 silent film score The Dying Swan; Genus (Paris Opera Ballet, 2007); Entity (Wayne McGregor and Random Dance, 2008); and Chamber Symphony for Chamber by choreographer Medhi Walerski (Residentie Orkest/Nederlands Dans Theater and Norwegian Opera and Ballet, 2012). In 2013, Mr. Talbot premiered Genus Quartet with the Calder Quartet, Meniscus with the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, and a new version of Tide Harmonic for Christopher Wheeldon and Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as seeing international revivals of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chamber, Chroma, Path of Miracles and Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity. Recently, Mr. Talbot premiered The Winter's Tale, his second full-length narrative score for The National Ballet of Canada and The Royal Ballet in collaboration with Christopher Wheeldon, and will begin work on a new one-act piece for Dallas Opera to premiere in 2015.

BOB CROWLEY (Set, Costume and Properties Design)

Bob Crowley's recent productions include Once (Broadway, Tony Award) and Disney's The Little Mermaid (Netherlands, Russia). His designs for the National Theatre include The Habit of Art, The Power of Yes, Phèdre, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Gethsemane, Fram (also co-directed), The History Boys, (Broadway, Tony Award) and Mourning Becomes Electra. For the Royal Shakespeare Company Mr. Crowley designed Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Broadway) and The Plantagenets (Laurence Olivier Award). In addition, Mr. Crowley designed The Capeman, Sweet Smell of Success, Disney's Aida (Tony Award), Tarzan (which he also directed), Mary Poppins (Tony Award), The Year of Magical Thinking and Coast of Utopia (Tony Award), The Magic Flute (English National Opera), Anastasia and Pavane (The Royal Ballet) and Don Carlos and La Traviata (Royal Opera). His film credits include Othello, Tales from Hollywood, Suddenly Last Summer and The Crucible (costumes). Mr. Crowley has received the Royal Designer for Industry Award and the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatrical Design.

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community and its audiences for three decades. The founders, Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea, which opened as The Joyce Theater in 1982. The Joyce Theater is named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. One of the only theaters built by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has provided an intimate and elegant home for more than 320 domestic and international companies. The Joyce has also commissioned more than 130 new dances since 1992. In 2009, The Joyce opened Dance Art New York (DANY) Studios to provide affordable studios for rehearsals, auditions, classes, and workshops for independent choreographers, non-profit dance companies, and the dance/theater communities. New York City public school students and teachers annually benefit from The Joyce's Dance Education Program, and adult audiences get closer to dance through informative Dance Talks, and post-performance Dance Chat discussions. The Joyce Theater now features an annual season of approximately 48 weeks with over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 135,000.

The National Ballet of Canada was established as a classical company by founder Celia Franca in 1951. The only Canadian ballet company to present a full range of traditional full-length classics, the National Ballet's repertoire includes works by the world's most celebrated 20th and 21st century masters, Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, John Cranko, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Jirí Kylián, John Neumeier, Rudolf Nureyev, Glen Tetley, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor and Alexei Ratmansky. In addition to its classical repertoire, the company also embraces contemporary works and encourages the creation of new ballets and the development of Canadian choreographers. The National Ballet last toured to Lincoln Center in 1988 with Onegin and a mixed program of La Ronde & Blue Snake. In 1998, the company performed two mixed programs at the New York City Center: Musings & Split House Geometric & Tides of Mind & The Four Seasons and Désir & the weight of absence & Washington Square and in 2005 at Brooklyn Academy of Music with The Contract (The Pied Piper).

The Joyce Theater and The National Ballet of Canada present the New York premiere of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, at the David H. Koch Theater from September 9 - 14. Performances are: Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30pm; Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday at 2pm. Tickets, ranging in price from $35-$145, go on sale Monday, April 28, 2014 and can be purchased through www.DavidHKochTheater.com or by calling (212)-496-0600. Please note: prices are subject to change. For more information, visit www.Joyce.org.