BWW Reviews: Alice Brings Wonderland To Cincinnati

Not just a ballet but also an adventure into a mystical world full of wonder, no pun intended. Cincinnati's Ballet Company took on a behemoth of a story bringing alive the magical world of Wonderland as we followed Alice through her dream. As phenomenal as the dancers were, the true accolades go to the production staff. The designers used technical ingenuities never seen applied to a ballet before, or at least not by me.

There were few parts of this production that were sub par, but unfortunately they were obvious. The use of a spinning horizontal Alice during the second part of her fall Down The Rabbit Hole was entertaining but boring to watch. The ballet dancers were almost perfect; the only mistake was a lack of precise cohesion amongst the corps dancers during the Large Door scene and the Flamingos. However their timing was only off by milliseconds and it lasted, at most, thirty seconds. The dance entitled Pool of Tears and The Caucus Race, in laymen's terms the "The Bird Dance", was beautiful but unnecessarily long. The Pig and Pepper dance didn't seem to advance the plot despite how fun it was to watch. The choreography for the Mad Hatter's solo during The Mad Hatter's Tea Party was incredible however Zach Grubbs' interpretation was not hard-hitting, sharp, or large enough. When the Red Queen comes onto the stage at the end of act one, the scrim was left white when it should have been consumes by red lights.

Now for the incredible parts, this ballet allowed us to really see the Principals play and act and be silly in a way I haven't seen before. Cervilio Amador did a tremendous job playing the White Rabbit and truly took on the physical being of the animal in an extremely whimsical way. Sarah Hairston was larger than life as Alice's Mother and the Queen of Hearts. I have met Sarah off the stage and she is a very small woman, but despite the incredibly large dress she wore her physical movements filled the stage. Her anger arms were not only scary but also comical in an ironic way. Janessa Touchet was adorable as ever playing the staring role as Alice but her beautiful arms and fearless jumps cannot be over looked. The Caterpillar and Cheshire Cat pieces, danced by Maizyalet Velazquez and James Gilmer respectively, would not have been as stunning without the beautiful Choreography of Septime Webre. The baby doors and flamingos were adorable and the adult Flamingos were beautiful, I got lost watching the footwork. The final dancer shout out goes to Jacqueline Damico who not only cracked up the audience as the Grandmother but also as the Dormouse. Of course her petite sized played well into the Dormouse role, but her energy was impossible to miss no matter where you sat in the audience.

Now for the Technical brilliance; our first taste of the ingenuity occurred when Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum rode a two-seat bicycle across the stage after Alice had been flown up into the air as she began to fall down the rabbit hole. The oohs and aahs could be heard by around the theater. Despite the dancing my favorite part of the ballet were created by the Costume Designer Liz Vandal. They were whimsical, brightly colored, and brought the story to life in a comic yet detail oriented way. My favorites included the Card tutus, the Red Queen's dress, the White Rabbit, and the Flamingos. The music was so beautiful and I definitely regret leaving the theater without buying a CD of the score. My favorite musical moment was going from the classical style of the Flamingos dance to the Jazz style of the Pig and Pepper dance.

So as usual readers, go see the Cincinnati Ballet! Here in our city we have one of the finest companies in the world, and luckily there are still some shows left in the season so go online and get some tickets!

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