Jump to content

Royal Ballet - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, December 2014


Recommended Posts

Hayward and Muntagirov certainly managed to breath some life into Alice, particularly the first act, but of part of me kept thinking that they were wasted on the ballet. Yes, they made it so much more interesting than when it's danced a bit more indifferently, but overall I still like the idea and design ethic of Alice a lot better than actually watching the whole thing. By the time the 3rd act finished, I had mentally gone through my to-do list for next week which is usually not a good sign. I never quite know what it is that gets me so bored in act 2 & 3, but suspect it might be that some of the dancing / 'entertainment' just goes on and on - what is gorgeous and / or interesting for the first 2 minutes, becomes very tedious when it's repeated endlessly (yes, I'm exaggerating - it obviously isn't endless since I'd otherwise would still be watching the first Alice I ever saw)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't wait for this Alice run and (overlong!) Don Q. run to be over (it seems to go on forever).  I never took to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The role of "Alice" is more of an acting role with a bit of dancing thrown in (it reminds me of Clara in The Nutcracker), thank goodness for the Flowers, the Cards, and the Caterpillar scene. There are individual scenes in this ballet I like, some visual effects are impressive but as a whole this is not a ballet for me, I just feel drained by the end of it. 

I made a last attempt to like it when it was shown on TV recently...I shall never grow to like it. I do understand it attracts a younger and new audience, and fills the ROH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hayward and Muntagirov certainly managed to breath some life into Alice, particularly the first act, but of part of me kept thinking that they were wasted on the ballet. Yes, they made it so much more interesting than when it's danced a bit more indifferently, but overall I still like the idea and design ethic of Alice a lot better than actually watching the whole thing. By the time the 3rd act finished, I had mentally gone through my to-do list for next week which is usually not a good sign. 

 

I meant to say after Hayward's debut that I actually found myself *enjoying* Act I (with the possible exception of the caucus race, of course).  She had found a way of imparting meaning to the choreography that I don't think I'd seen with most of the other Alices: an arm movement wasn't just an arm movement, but was done because ...   But by the time we were into Act III I found I was starting to be a bit bored, mainly because Hayward was sidelined for so much of it, in the same way that I would have if my only reason for going to see The Nutcracker had been to see the Clara.

 

I can't wait for this Alice run and (overlong!) Don Q. run to be over (it seems to go on forever).  

 

Me too.  I doubt there's ever been a whole month in the RB season since the House reopened where I haven't been to a single performance, except between the end of the Ashton programme and more or less Christmas.  And then I had 3 in 3 days :(  I'm looking forward to something more meaty - when does the next triple bill start?  Must be a while off, since public booking hasn't even started for it yet.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have liked to see Hayward and Muntagirov dance together but I didn't have any desire to see Alice; I hope that they will be paired together in something else. Speaking of Sleeping Beauty, I agree that it's not a ballet for young children - for a start, it's very long. Last night I watched the rose adagio in a very opulent POB production; it really was ballet as high art and there must have been dozens of people on the stage. This season, there are very long runs of several ballets at the ROH, which, although disappointing from an artistic point of view, is good for my bank balance!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Odd, isn't it, that the gardeners get their own curtain call and yet aren't listed in the cast sheet.  Can anyone confirm who are three gardeners were on the 12th ?

 

James Hay, Luca Acri, and I think - Calvin Richardson (not sure about the 3rd one)

 

I must be in a small minority, but I'm really enjoying both Alice and the RB's version of DQ   :-)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw Alice last night and enjoyed it very much as it was my only one this time, got the casting I booked for which helps, Francesca Hayward and Vadim Muntagirov are perfect for the roles, they can just be themselves, and dance very fluently together, I think he would be too tall for her in the classics though.  As a production there is just not enough dancing for me, the first long act is really just a procession of charming/irritating characters, act two is shorter and much better, two solo's for Alice, the Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar (the one and only Eric Underwood last night) and then the Waltz and pdd which seems to be longer and makes a very pretty setpiece, the third act contains a far amount of dancing, but the best scene for me remains the final one, which manages to convey the charm and sentiment of the book, if there had been more like that I would have loved it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also saw the Hayward/Muntagirov performance on the 15th. It was my first time seeing Muntagirov dance, so that was a treat. I thought Hayward really brought the stubborn child to her portayal of Alice in a way that some of the others I've seen in this role over the years (Cuthbertson, Lamb, Nunez, Stix-Brunell) have not - she stubbornly shrugs off some of the more traumatising incidents (the butcher's scene for example) and gets on with it, without losing the depth in the more reflective moments (e.g. the act II (I think) solo where she dances with her sisters). I can't wait to see her dancing some more roles! I thought she and James Hay also danced very well in their scenes together.

 

I quite like Alice, even if my initial enthusiasm for it has waned a bit with each revival (maybe because the clever effects are no longer a surprise - all those around me who were seeing it for the first time still seemed pretty entranced by them!). That said, it is now a very different production from the one I saw on it's first night a couple of years back. I think there is actually much more dance content than there was back then. For example, I'm pretty sure that Alice dances much more in the scene with the doors than in the initial version, and I'm pretty sure that several other bits have been bulked out too.  Sadly though, one move that I really liked (the slide en pointe in the repeated motif that Alice and Jack dance throughout) seems to have been edited out. What I originally liked about the choreography of 'Alice' was the combination of classical and more contemporary steps...that is still true, but the contemporary steps seems to have been watered down somewhat in the two subsequent revivals.

 

I agree with others who say that some bits could do with pruning - the trial scene for instance is just a bit chaotic for a bit too long. The caucus race no longer bothers me as much, but it is a bit 'meh'. The bit that really confused me last night was the tree painters. This pas de trois seems to have got longer, but lost its humour. I'm sure in the original version, the flowers flipped back from red to white again, and there was far less of this pointless shuffling of the trees around the stage. I really was quite bored by the end of this dance! The butcher's scene could also be shorter. However, unlike others, I would leave the Queen of Hearts well alone! This is a brilliant role!

 

I still think this is a really wonderful overall production, with plenty going for it, but just not settled down yet. I wonder what it will be like at the next revival!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bit that really confused me last night was the tree painters. This pas de trois seems to have got longer, but lost its humour. I'm sure in the original version, the flowers flipped back from red to white again

 

 

think this more a technical hiccup than deliberate. The 'gardeners' have to flip the white to red, then it unwinds itself to flip back to white - but this can take varying amounts of time - or fail altogether! I think one of the bushes is set to revert to all white at the flip of a switch (again on a timer) - but they have to make sure they pick the right one...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks MargaretN7 and zxDaveM - I thought maybe this might have been the case.

 

As for the slide en pointe, I thought it was there in the first act, the first time that sequence is there, but not in the subsequent reprisals of that motif. There was one in the trial scene, but I didn't see any others... However, possible I just missed them!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

think this more a technical hiccup than deliberate. The 'gardeners' have to flip the white to red, then it unwinds itself to flip back to white - but this can take varying amounts of time - or fail altogether! I think one of the bushes is set to revert to all white at the flip of a switch (again on a timer) - but they have to make sure they pick the right one...

They are operated by remote control, rather than a timer. I think they just need a bit of refurbishment and TLC but they worked OK for the final show (except for one single red on the "all change" bush).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter and I went to see Vadim and Frankie's performance on the matinee of January 10th. I was going to write my impressions here but for various reasons didn't get around to it. In the meantime, Julia did. I can't better what she said as we are both in total agreement about it, so with your indulgence here is a link to her blog wherein she puts across her views in her own special way. For those of you who read it, I hope you enjoy it!

 

http://tothepointemagazine.wix.com/tothepointemagazine

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Thought this might be of interest to a few people here:

 

BEING ALICE – 20 APRIL

Kiera Vaclavik (Curator of the V&A Museum of Childhood exhibition, The Alice Look, and Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London) discusses what it is to play Alice and the wide ranging influence with the novel with former Alices Fiona Fullerton (Alice in the 1972 film starring Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore and Michael Crawford),Lauren Cuthbertson (Alice in the 2011 Royal Ballet production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon) and Fflur Wyn (who is reprising her performance as Alice in the forthcoming Opera Holland Park production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland).

It's on Monday night.  For full details reference here.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...