NY Theatre Ballet’s “The Alice-in-Wonderland Follies” Review by Andrea Santo Felcone
Upon entering the Florence Gould Hall, you are greeted by two charming young girls wearing frilly Alice-in-Wonderland costumes (complete with tea-cup hats on their heads), handing out programs. This delightful touch sets the stage for the completely enchanting ballet that follows.
Elena Zahlmann as Alice. Photo Credit: Rachel Neville.
“Enchanting” is the perfect way to describe the NY Theatre Ballet’s “The Alice-in-Wonderland Follies”. Billed as “a ballet vaudeville,” this ballet is enchanting on many levels: for its high-quality dancers, for the spectacular costumes, for the colorful and ingenious set design, for ultimately, its clever concept and choreography by Keith Michael.
Set in “The Palace Theater, New York, in 1915,” the audience is taken on a marvelous journey following Alice as she interacts with many of Lewis Carroll’s beloved “Alice-in-Wonderland” characters. The classic is reimagined with the use of the “follies” concept: there is a dance, The Caterpillar, where a line of female dancers in spectacular green gauzy costumes, perform in a way that is reminiscent of the chorus line of The Ziegfeld Follies. (You may wonder what it would look like to view the choreography from an aerial perspective.) Each dance is presented in a vaudeville style, drawing on a range of cultural dance forms—from Irish Step Dancing to African Juba to Classical Ballet. It is an interesting mix, and the vaudeville aspect never detracts from the grace of the Classical Ballet.
The opening is remarkable, as Alice’s hand (dancer Elena Zahlmann) appears out of a dollhouse on stage, and pours itself some tea. While that may seem remarkable enough, Alice herself, then emerges–from the dollhouse. Then, if that were not enough, Zahlmann dances while wearing the dollhouse. It is a stunning entrance and an interesting play on the fanciful way Lewis Carroll explored perspective in the original literature—Alice would grow and shrink throughout that story.
The set/décor design and painting by Gillian Bradshaw-Smith is clever, colorful, and takes its inspiration from the classic “Alice-in-Wonderland” illustrations by John Tenniel. There are square boxes used throughout the performance, which the dancers rotate according to what is about to happen on stage. A box turned to display a painting of a cat, invites the Cheshire Cat on stage (played mischievously by dancer Amanda Treiber). Or turned to another side, the painted boxes reveal a row of hearts, which serve to introduce The Queen of Hearts (dancer Alexis Branagan in a gorgeous costume designed by Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan).
The Queen of Hearts (Alexis Branagan) with Alice (Elena Zahlmann) and ensemble. Photo credit: Rachel Neville.
Perhaps the most inventive use of the boxes was at the Mad Hatter Tea-Party, where child dancers enter dressed in tea-cup hats, the “program girls” included, wearing “tables” (essentially square boxes draped with tablecloths, where the dancers could pop their head through the top). As the eight child dancers swirl around the stage, they (and their square boxes) come to rest in a formation that creates a rectangular dining table for the Mad Hatter to have his proper tea. Spectacular choreography.
The dancers themselves are exquisite and talented. These are ballet dancers of high order. Perhaps, most interesting, is the Jabberwocky number, performed by the entire company, where the dancers recite Lewis Carroll’s nonsensical poem to a complicated choreography of claps, pats, and stomps—all in complete synchronicity. It’s a standout number and surprising as the company recites the poem aloud. (The other vignettes are expressed through dance, not words.) Another favorite, was Alice and The White Rabbit (dancer Steven Melendez) on opposite sides of a “looking glass” mirroring each other’s movements.
It is the New York Theatre Ballet’s mission to perform innovative hour-long ballets for young children, all at affordable prices. This was evident right from the start when Diana Byer, the founder and Artistic Director of the NY Theatre Ballet and Ballet School of NY, led the children in the audience in a few ballet poses prior to the start of the performance. I can only imagine how exciting that was for the young dancers in the audience, many of whom came wearing tutus and sequins.
If you have a dancer in your family, or you would like to expose your children to something different (as I wanted to do with my sons), put the NY Theatre Ballet on your list of high-quality ballet experiences for children. You will be very glad you did.
The Alice-in-Wonderland Follies ends today, April 29. Performances at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3:30 pm. Tickets are $34 ($24 for kids 12 and under). For tickets: http://nytb.org/calendar-and-tickets/view/The-Alice-in-Wonderland-Follies/ or call (212) 355-6160.
However, if you cannot attend today; mark your calendars, they are performing The Nutcracker in December!
To learn more about NY Theatre Ballet: http://nytb.org/about-nytb
Florence Gould Hall: 55 E. 59th Street, NYC.
Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Ballet, dance, Family fun, NY Ballet Theatre
