Take Me To Wonderland
On Saturday I attended the Royal Ballet’s matinee of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This was the first time that I had seen it and I didn’t have much hope that it would be any good. I had been warned that this was more of a show than a ballet, something for the kids and more visually impressive than choreographically stimulating. Well if this is the case, I clearly haven’t aged much. Maybe the kids in the audience were engrossed, but so was I and so was everyone around me no matter what their age. I always take this as a good sign. It’s a bit like panto where it’s as much for adults as it is for children and Christopher Wheeldon achieves something quite similar with Alice. There are grown up themes such as romance, neglect, growing up and also violence (the ‘home sweet home’ scene is possibly more frightening and violent than Mayerling). I loved much of this ballet and yes there aren’t any heart wrenching pas de deux or ridiculous pirouette counts, but Wheeldon is successful in creating that bittersweet tone that Carroll himself explored, where girl becomes woman and the imminent stages of growing up allow for the loss of youth. It’s actually pretty grown up stuff when you look at it like this. None of the above could have been believed were it not for such a beautiful cast, and with bright new star Francesca Hayward playing Alice and my favourite male Vadim Muntagirov playing Jack, I think Alice could replace The Nutcracker for a long time as the Royal Ballet’s winter charmer.
I’d seen many clips of Alice online and although Clare Calvert was good as the Queen of Hearts, I secretly wished I was watching Zenaida Yanowsky who stole the show through the debut run and whose YouTube clips are too hilarious. One could have so much fun with this role. It’s part panto dame, part evil Disney queen. Calvert did it justice, she was pretty scary and funny and technically she did very well. I liked that she was small, unlike Zen, so that when her dress opens to reveal her tiny frame the whole audience laughs, surprised that this loud mouthed individual is in fact a young woman! From what I’ve seen, Zen takes it all further and her Rose (or Heart!) Adagio is, I’ve heard, the highlight of the whole ballet. You need a character like Zen to play this role, someone who gets the humour and who can be frightening but hilarious at the same time. Calvert isn’t quite there yet.
Visually, Alice is an experience. There are pretty epic moments and I love all of the small details. While the story is pretty identical to Carroll’s narrative, Wheeldon’s and his creative team’s imaginations have kept things fresh and innovative. The use of projections and animation help to create this fantasy world and the costumes are playful, further adding to this other worldly atmosphere. Overall this is a very imaginative and witty production. Every detail has been thought about such as the drink me / eat me scene where a very clever trick is used to show Alice’s growing body (I won’t spoil this for those who have yet to see this). I can understand why some would argue this is more show than ballet (the effects really do steal the spotlight and choreographically there isn’t too much to remember like the equivalent of a balcony scene etc.) but I don’t see this as an issue. It’s actually refreshing to be slapped in the face with colour, media screens, props and an inventive imagination. Before the run of that old staple, Swan Lake, it’s a pleasure to see something different. And I’m not being too fair on Wheeldon. One of my favourite ‘ballet’ scenes in the piece is Alice’s solo in the Act 3 where she is fed up, realising, just like Dorothy, that there’s no place like home. It’s quite a sombre and reflective solo with themes of loss of innocence sweeping in. When Alice’s sisters join her on stage in a dreamy sequence, Alice is thinking of her family and childhood and yearning not just to be home but also to keep that playful innocence. Wonderland becomes symbolic of corrupted innocence and reality, with Jack (i.e. love) being the only saving grace. It all doesn’t seem so childish now, does it?
Giving Francesca Hayward the opportunity to lead a three act ballet was a bold move from Kevin O’Hare and one that has been beyond successful. Her first was Manon and now Alice. Quite a coup to play the lead in both in the same season when you’re a Soloist. Oh, and 22 years old. I think we are seeing the making of a star here. She’s beautiful, light, technically very good and exciting. Yes she’s very small but on pointe with Muntagirov she held her own. I really love the way O’Hare is playing around with partnerships and casting. He’s made some surprising choices so far and he cheekily steers away from the rigidity of the ranks. Yes you might be a Soloist who must still work towards becoming a Principal, but with O’Hare in charge, this no longer means that you won’t be given meaty roles. Melissa Hamilton, Akane Takada, Donald Thom, Nicol Edmonds have all been given big roles and none are Principals. This is an exciting time as O’Hare is reminding his audience that this is very much a company. There isn’t a star partnership that we all go to see while everyone else fades into the background. Instead, there is a unity with the company that I haven’t seen before, where playing Giselle doesn’t come hand in hand with being a Principal and could actually be accessible to an Artist or Soloist. My only worry with O’Hare’s casting experimentation is that partnerships will not be formed. Perhaps wary of an Osipova/Vasiliev type takeover, where the rest of the company is overshadowed, he is making sure that we see everyone. But stopping at the right fit is no bad thing and I hope O’Hare considers this. Muntagirov is a perfect partner and he could form a beautiful partnership with one lucky lady. After seeing Alice, I’m beginning to hope that lady could just be Hayward.
O’Hare is doing the right thing here by giving everyone a chance and look what can happen when the chance is given. Hayward is gold. She gets the balance of Alice just right and she’s believable while playing her. Partnered with Muntagirov is another bright decision from O’Hare. They are both similar in age, and both possess a childlike attack to dance that really excites me. They are carefree, confident and believable as a teenage couple. In the final Act, Muntagirov wears a white billowy shirt very similar to Romeo’s in the Balcony Scene in Romeo and Juliet. I was so focused on this similarity and began to imagine him as Romeo with Hayward as his Juliet and decided that this absolutely needs to happen. What a fabulous partnership could be formed here.
*Image Copyright David Long