The Joyce to Present Christopher Wheeldon's ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, 9/9-14

The Joyce Theater Foundation and The National Ballet of Canada are proud to present the New York premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's acclaimed production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at the David H. Koch Theater from September 9 - 14, 2014. 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 following the just completed New York premiere of Ballet Preljocaj's Snow White (April 23-27, 2014). Tickets for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland go on sale Monday, April 28, 2014 and can be arranged online at www.DavidHKochTheater.com or by calling (212)-496-0600.

"I'm thrilled that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is coming to New York and to my old home, The David H. Koch Theater," said choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. "The National Ballet of Canada is a company of rare storytelling stock, similar to The Royal Ballet of London, my home city, where Alice premiered."

Linda Shelton, Executive Director of The Joyce Theater, said, "We are delighted to partner with The National Ballet of Canada and to give New York audiences the opportunity to experience this magnificent production. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a spectacular show featuring the beautiful dancers of Canada's National Ballet, along with fabulously stunning sets, extravagant costumes and a glorious original score. A true feast for the eyes, ears and heart."

Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, Karen Kain, said, "It is always a pleasure to dance in New York and to be bringing such an extraordinary work as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland makes this visit especially exciting. It is a big, exuberant, highly theatrical ballet full of brilliant dance and phenomenal stage craft. I think New Yorkers will love it."

British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon's glorious interpretation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll's beloved winsome, subversive, cunning and wickedly funny children's classic, has received overwhelming acclaim - both popular and critical - since its 2011 premiere. With a beautiful and dynamic original score written by British Composer Joby Talbot - performed live by a 64-piece orchestra - and eye-poppingly stunning sets and costumes by Tony award-winning designer Bob Crowley, Wheeldon's sophisticated choreography revisits and brings to the stage many of the familiar characters from the book, but in such brilliantly staged arrangements that you'll feel you're meeting them all over again for the very first time. This production, with its extraordinary stagecraft, startling choreographic statements and a perfectly nuanced blending of classical dance and sheer entertainment, is perfect for audiences of all ages!

With this production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Joyce Theater will expand its established programming presence at Lincoln Center. Since April 2012, The Joyce has successfully presented annual week-long engagements at the David H. Koch Theater, including the Sadler's Wells/Sylvie Guillem production 6000 miles away, Nederlands Dans Theater in 2013, and this spring's presentation of Ballet Preljocaj's Snow White, which ended Sunday, April 27. Now, through a new initiative, The Joyce will present two separate week-long engagements per year, helping to ensure that New York City experiences a diversity of outstanding large-scale dance productions while increasing The Joyce's capacity to engage new audiences.

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 new 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 premier formed an all Wheeldon evening at the NYCB in January 2012. In 2014 Mr. Wheeldon will be creating a full length version of The Winter's Tale for the Royal Ballet and 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.

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. In 2014, Mr. Talbot will premiere 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.

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