BWW Reviews: Ballet in Cinema from Emerging Pictures Presents ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Royal Ballet's Alice and Wonderland: a Ballet through Film

By Jennifer Fried

The Royal Ballet's first full-length commission in sixteen years, Alice and Wonderland, offers audiences an extraordinary colorful and playful rendition of Lewis Carroll's literary classic. The company captured the world premier performance on film and added commentary from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, composer Joby Talbot, set designer Bob Crowley, as well as footage of the dancers rehearsing and speaking with interviewers. This allowed the audience to appreciate the creative development that resulted in the spectacular ballet they enjoyed viewing.

Many ballet enthusiasts may be skeptical of viewing a full-length ballet through film, fearing that the enthusiasm and energy of a live performance won't translate onto the silver screen. However, there are certain advantages of film. You have a front row seat, with the ability to appreciate the technical mastery that one expects from The Royal Ballet, as well as a balcony view of the whole stage, with the capacity to appreciate the full stage settings and formations in the choreography.

The one drawback of the film format may be that the settings do not translate as well as they would in a live performance. Set designer Bob Crowley created grand, vivid, and even optical illusions in his settings that one would expect from Alice and Wonderland, recreating the images from the book and Disney movie in recognizable, yet novel ways. They range from the opening party scene in an English country house to an ocean Alice must swim through to the Queen of Heart's Palace that never fail to please the eye. He even employed multimedia elements that are particularly effective, my favorite being when Alice falls through the hole into Wonderland. The customs are colorful and visually pleasing, especially those for the caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts. However, some of the excitement of the set transitions may have been lost through the film, which a live audience may have delighted in.

The film certainly does capture the electrifying choreography, which becomes even more enjoyable after watching scenes of the dancers rehearsing. Wheeldon uses various dance elements, including tap, contemporary, theatre and, of course, classical ballet. Especially satisfying are Steven McRae as the Mad Hatter (or mad tapper!) and Zenaida Yanowsky as the Queen of Hearts.

Wheeldon has created a ballet that seems to be aware of its place in the classical ballet canon, not to mention the literary tradition that nurtured Lewis Carroll. Members of the audience familiar with classical ballet will delight in his comical remake of the Rose Adagio from Petipa's Sleeping Beauty. In Alice, the Tart Adagio (you can read a number of meanings into this), where the Queen of Hearts is awkwardly and comically maneuvered by four nervous suitors who offer her jam, thrilled the movie theatre audience so much so that they clapped after the scene.

Throughout the whole ballet, the music composed by Joby Talbot assists in bringing the story to life. Wheeldon even comments that the ballet started with the music; the choreography came later. The music ranges from mysterious, intriguing, and alluring to, at times, playful or even threatening, complementing the theatrical dancing of Sarah Lamb, dancing the naive and impressionable thirteen-year-old Alice.

Alice and Wonderland would be a wonderful first ballet for a child familiar with the story. It fulfills all the expectations of a full-length classical ballet while adding new and enthralling elements, making it an ideal ballet for audiences of 2013.

Photo Credit: BWW-Staff

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