We know that the Royal Ballet's dancers are exceptional, we've seen that the designs and lighting are magical, but the jury is still out on whether Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland satisfies as a theatrical piece.Clement Crisp's final paragraph from his Financial Times review of the current run was, But for all the unflagging energies, physical and … [Read more...]
Christopher Wheeldon explains why his Alice ballet isn’t a slow-motion car crash
Luke Jennings, summing up the critics' verdicts on the 'McCartney Ballet' in the Guardian's theatre blog, reflected on unsuccessful narrative ballets: Ballet's gatekeepers tend to almost infinite credulity, and this, to a large extent, is why there are so many bad narrative ballets. Here in the UK there are dance directors who understand the nature and importance of story … [Read more...]
Alices everywhere from London to New York, from film to stage, from musical to ballet. Now in tartan…
Alices are popping out all over the place. Tim Burton is partly to blame for the latest batch with his Johnny Depp film Alice in Wonderland in 3D last year. Here in Italy there is an (awful) touring musical Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie, opening on Broadway in a few days is Wonderland, and of course there is the current Christopher Wheeldon ballet at Covent Garden. But let's … [Read more...]
First reviews are out of Wheeldon’s Alice at the Royal Ballet
Neil Norman for The Daily Express has no doubt: I predict that Christopher Wheeldon’s triumphant production of Lewis Carroll’s immortal classic will become the must-see ballet for children and adults alike. As a full-length narrative ballet – the first commissioned by the Royal Ballet in sixteen years – it is a cogent and immensely entertaining work. As a feat of engineering … [Read more...]