Alice's Adventures In Wonderland: Royal Opera House [2010] [Region Free]

Throughout the years many versions of Lewis Carroll’s classic masterwork have been transcribed to film in one form or another but pretty much all of the adaptations seriously fall short of what the allegories in the story are all about – be it Alice floundering helplessly as she floats down the one-way rabbit hole of life; her being ensnared in a bland clinical environment and trying doors to escape – only to discover that the paths that she (as a female) wishes to take are sealed by locked doors that bar her from entry (some for her own good); drowning in her sorrows as she shrinks within herself but having the fortitude to swim out of the mess she finds herself in – only to be confronted by a bunch of sly deceitful confidence tricksters who trick Alice out of her wealth (her sweeties) before she meets a bombastic rabbit who is always in a rush and flurry and has Alice at his beck and call until she reaches a state when she finds the walls of his house are closing in all around her while the rabbit throws rocks at Alice and orders others to go in and sort it out.On the way we meet the wise (and truly STUNNING) caterpillar who instructs Alice to be more alert to what is going on around her; and the frog footman and the fish footman who perform a wonderful parody on the syllogisms of the Duchesses invitation to play croquet with the Queen. ‘An invitation; for the Duchess; from the Queen; to play croquet’ says the fish footman. So – that’s ‘an invitation; from the Queen; for the Duchess to play croquet’ says the frog footman. That’s right – says the fish footman – ‘an invitation; to play croquet; from the Queen; for the Duchess’ – as the Duchess snatches it away with an emphatic ‘is it for MOI!’)ASIDE: In Carroll’s whimsical ‘must read’ publications ‘Symbolic Logic’ and ‘The game of logic’ (both books now published as ‘Mathematical Recreations of Lewis Carroll’ – available from Amazon) Lewis Carroll was the first to publish the fact that Aristotle’s method used in classical logism to debate a set of premises – a word that here means assertion - to search for commonly held truths, is bunkum. By creating this wonderful childrens game - a game filled with hilarious whimsical situations to teach children how to see and recognise truth from fallacy - Carroll paved the way for George Boole to formally define symbolic logic as mathematical constructs – which led to Alan Turin inventing the machine that changed the world – the computer.The frog footman then advises Alice to ‘look before you leap’ (Alice: ‘How do I get into the house?’ Footman: ‘The question you should be asking is why do you want to go in there in the first place’) when Alice wishes to enter the house of a truly vile Duchess to seek directions – only to discover it is a hovel filled with people on drugs (pepper) having a horrendous argument over trivia whilst trashing everything that is useful (the crockery) and abusing the child who must be ‘beaten when he sneezes because he only does it to annoy’.As a terrified Alice dashes out of the hovel with the baby in an attempt to prevent the baby from further harm, the baby transforms into a pig and Alice then meets the wise (and utterly FANTASTIC) Cheshire Cat who enquires: ‘What happened to the baby?’Alice informs the cat that ‘the baby turned into a pig’ and the cat replies ‘I THOUGHT it might’ – informing us that the baby grew up to be a pig because of NEGLECFUL NURTURING.When Alice asks the cat for directions, the Cheshire cat asks Alice which direction she wishes to go. When Alice says that she isn’t really bothered the cat replies: ‘Then it doesn’t matter which direction you take’ – informing Alice that SHE has choices in life – and not to aimlessly go through life without any goal or purpose because otherwise you will flounder and end life in a mess.On the way Alice enters the Gentleman’s club where she encounters the tap-dancing Mad Hatter seriously bullying the dormouse, and the March Hare always siding with Hatter – where in their cruel attempt to be rid of Alice because women are not welcome, they ask Alice riddles that do not have an answer to make Alice feel foolish (Why is a raven like a writing desk?), and so Alice learns about how people can twist things around to bring things to their own advantage.Lauren Cuthbertson as Alice Liddell tirelessly dances her way through the complex maze of apparent madness – and as Alice encounters the whimsical characters, each character accurately depicts each and every lesson that Lewis Carroll has masterfully hidden in plain sight in a fabulously delightful way for the astute child (adult?) to see and learn from for themselves - which makes the ballet compelling viewing over and over again – always supplemented with LOTS of discussions with children and adults – both during and afterwards - on what is REALLY taking place and what lessons are to be learned from Alice’s adventure in ‘Wonderland’.The ballet is immersed in spectacular sets; stunning costumes; and wonderful use of technology. Along the way there are beautiful references to Lewis Carroll being a photographer – depicted at the beginning - and some fabulous references to ballet as the enchanting music takes us on a wonderful, spectacular journey of mime, movement, and mystery.The game of croquet – with spectacular 'flamingo' puppetry from the ballerinas, and younger members of the Royal Ballet depicting the hedgehogs – is utterly hilarious, but for me, the ‘showstopper’ is the fantastic performance given by Zenaida Yanoswsy, who depicts ‘The Queen of Hearts’ with a wonderful comedic spirit that has you creased up with laughter as she performs a spoof ‘Rose Adagio’ from Sleeping beauty with the four ‘cards’ who were painting the red roses white (a reference to 'The War of the Roses' – ‘The Queen of Hearts’ being Queen Elizabeth – who beheaded anyone who crossed her).A quick aside: modern playing cards are derived from the ‘minor’ suits of the Tarot – ‘CUPS’ depicting ‘The Holy Grail’ – representing the Church; SWORDS representing the armed forces who PROTECT the Church (a ‘vorpal weapon’ is a weapon that ‘speaks truth’ – hence the ‘vorpal sword’ Alice uses to slay the Jabberwocky in ‘Alice through the looking glass and what she found there’); PENTACLES representing the merchants that provide the WEALTH of the realm; and STAFF – representing the LABOUR FORCE that copse the woods and till the fields to provide food and shelter. These are NOW depicted as HEARTS (everlasting and unconditional love); CLUBS (the armed forces); DIAMONDS (wealth); and SPADES (the workforce) – the ACE of spades representing the GRAVEDIGGER!This version of Carroll’s wonderful story – a story filled with many lessons of life we wish we could have learnt when we were young – is truly magical and utterly captivating from start to finish. The sets are spectacular; the cinematography is stunning; the costumes are dazzling; the performances are spell-binding; the MUSIC is heavenly; and the stellar cast are on FIRE!.Be warned! Once you watch the ballet you will find the contents to be curiouser and curiouser – and you will watch it again and again.Once you discover some of the ‘inner secrets’ of Lewis Carroll’s amazing books, and see ‘beyond the story’ – you will discover – or are discovering - just what a fabulous ‘guiding light’ filled with lessons in life that Carroll’s masterwork is – and long may you continue to explore and enjoy its many lessons and mysteries that are ‘hidden in plain sight’ – as they quietly wait for you to discover them.Should you be motivated to purchase the masterwork in BOOK form then my recommendation is the magnificent version ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass’ published by THE COLLECTORS COLOUR LIBRARY (ISBN 978 1 907360 36 7). Available from Amazon, this beautiful publication is the perfect size to fit into a jacket pocket or handbag and all of Tenniel’s drawings are reproduced in full colour.Have a frabjous day.

love it

I came to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (created in 2011) only this autumn. After Youtube-snippets sparked my curiosity, I went to see a Royal Ballet performance last September. It didn't disappoint, prompting me to buy the blu-ray. The performance makes a delicious romp, with music-hall influences, tap (Mad Hatter), and, starting with Alice going into the rabbit hole, simply loaded with special effects - leading to allegations of the show being superficial. I think these are unfounded; uttered by people apparently not looking past form. Alice's journey has an underlying theme of growing up, delving into oneself, and standing up for the one you love, regardless of class. Point in this process takes place halfway the ballet, in 'Alice Alone.' While Alice dances, there are lines, formed by caterpillar smoke, projected: 'where are you?,' how are you?,' and finally 'who are ...?' That's right, 'you.' The camera, however, fails to register that last 'you.' Even though you might guess it by then, this is sloppy. On said camera work: in many scenes there is awful lot happening at the same time, so it proves quite impractical to get all the different information of it in close-ups, as happens with the first scene, the Liddell garden party.The pressure of creating a new full-length work on major ballet companies is huge, and the docmentary (extras) mentions it. Especially so for the Royal Ballet and its tradition, which always emphasized the narrative ballets. Not since Kenneth MacMillan's Mayerling (a dramatic ballet, dealing with the suicide scandal of Austrian's last crown prince) has there been one that held repertory in Covent Garden, and that was in 1978 ... A large, attributing fault in the fabric of these works might be the meagre role and dances for the corps de ballet, something the 19th century understood and did so well. Christopher Wheeldon, Alice's boyish-wizard choreographer, didn't fall into that trap. He has done a terrific job here with the agressive cards, slightly less so with the ballroomy flowers, but given time, the choreographic niceties in both scenes will prove their worth more and more. Wheeldon the step maker is more often than not overzealous, stuffing his works with material, but in a psychologically complex work like Alice it doesn't look out of place. There are two other things Wheeldon, his librettist Nicholas Wright and composer Joby Talbot (kudos) managed to accomplish: they succeeded in transfering the 'unheimischness' of Lewis Carroll's book to the stage, having many characters and scenes emit an uneasy feel. The cold Mother/Queen of Hearts is one example, but the scene with the Duchess, the Cook and Baby Pig went further; made me a bit queasy. So, in an odd way, arresting theatre. The other thing is that a story-telling ballet needs a pas de deux. This landed Alice her love interest Jack/Knave of Hearts. Their relationship is developed over the course of the ballet, and has a very appealing innocence and honesty. Jack/Knave of Hearts, Mother/Queen of Hearts, Father/King of Hearts, Carroll/White Rabbit, Magician/Mat Hatter. The double role-trick is, like in MGM's Wizard of Oz, a smart way to explain a dream to a post-Freud audience.The role of Alice was created on Lauren Cuthbertson, the English ballerina of this generation. Cuthbertson may not have the charisma of her predecessors Darcey Bussell or Margot Fonteyn, but she is beautiful in her own right, and very contemporary as a beauty that dares to be, and dance 'ugly.' She is totally immersed in the role, and has the technique to underscore it. Her Jack/Knave of Hearts is Sergei Polunin, of recent fame or infame, depending on your point of view. I had seen him in class, but never on stage, and thought his take on the male lead here surprisingly 'young,' even androgynous. His technique is smooth, with effortless landings. The supporting cast, from Edward Watson (Carroll/White Rabbit) and Steven McRae (Mad Hatter) to the expressively-faced Zenaida Yanowsky (Mother/Queen of Hearts), and the guesting Simon Russell Beale (playing the grotesque Duchess, obviously hired in tribute to the English pantomime tradition), could not be better. Among the smaller roles there's Samantha Raine as Alice's 'blue' sister, a champion of sincerity in every step she makes, and Christopher Saunders as Father (and King of Hearts), who is so convincing as he walks a tightrope between calming and simply loving his wife. Yanowsky's Tart Adagio, a play on Sleeping Beauty's Rose Adagio is positively slapstick. It is soon followed by the emotional highlight of the ballet: Alice and Jack's 'Court Room Pas de Deux,' wherein Alice makes the grown-up choice for her Knave. The duo wins over the initially reluctant wonderlanders/bystanders, but soon after the dream starts to fall apart, beginning with a chase, prompted by the irascible, head-chopping Queen of Hearts. The ballet's ending brings a different awakening than you might expect. A lovely, and contemporary one too.All this comes on a Blu-ray disc with perfect picture and sound. It makes a great X-mas present for anyone caring for ballet, or could be the vehicle to make the uninitiated 'curiouser and curiouser.'

A superb production of a new ballet, made for the Royal Ballet Company. The story is delightful, the dancing excellent, all in all a really good family production. Children will love the characters while the adults will admire the technique of the dancers. Lewis Carroll’s story never looked so good.

Es una maravillosa producción, música execelente, cameos acertados. Ampliamente recomendado.

なりました。ブルーレイ最高。アリス役のローレン・カスバートソンが舞台装置に背中をこすったのか赤くなっているところまではっきり見える！とにかく舞台装置も衣装も素晴らしくアリスの世界です。もちろん踊りも素敵なのですが、バレエなのにお話の世界で踊りが浮いているように感じないのはやっぱりロイヤルバレエならではの演劇性なのでしょうか。子どもにとっては文句なく楽しいバレエです。もちろん大人にも。

In Jennifer Homans' magisterial history of the ballet, "Apollo's Angels", she reaches the rather melancholy conclusion that dance as an art form is in its death throes. Ballet's creative essence seems no longer capable of sustaining the necessary energy or infrastructure needed to generate a stream of dance works that merit description as art. Terpsichorean jewels such as those created by the great choreographer George Balanchine, especially in collaboration with composer Igor Stravinsky, appear to be relegated to a poignant late-Romantic decadence, an early evening gloaming just before the eternal night of total artistic irrelevance. It is a sobering conclusion and her evidence is substantial if not ultimately convincing.Since Balanchine's death in April 1983 no choreographer has emerged to unambiguously don the mantle of genius. That may weigh heavily in Homans' calculations of ballet's future prospects. What we have had are glimpses of new styles of dance, of pastiche ballets, of a new irreverence that upends ballet's history. That playfulness that we signify as irreverence often toys with our expectations of what we think are the genuine artistic pretensions of modern dance versus what are merely a form of glamorous kitsch in motion. Mark Morris' ingenious and witty 1991 version of The Nutcracker, "The Hard Nut", is a landmark representative of several of these trends and the very embodiment of the new playfulness.With the 2011 premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, based on Lewis Carroll's children's book for grown-ups, the various recent trends in ballet have been united in a masterful souffle. Instantly and dramatically obvious is that Alice is only possible in our multimedia era. And because of Alice's complexity, its presentation is unthinkable without access to robust computer technology. It features stunning stage designs, a barrage of kaleidoscopic scenery, gigantic three-dimensional human puppetry, film, video, shadow plays, trompe l'oeil imagery, urban architecture, landscapes, gardens, human hedgehogs and flamingos, imaginative costumes, hand puppets, dancers and an orchestra. Uniting these disparate elements must have been difficult.Wheeldon's choreography - with its sly historic allusions to choreographers such as Martha Graham, Balanchine and (inevitably) Mark Morris, athletic or elegant dance moves created by Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, absolutely stunning tap dancing, the over-ripe glamour of Las Vegas show girls, Hip-Hop, ballroom dancing and disco - is endlessly inventive. Yet despite this rainbow of dance elements, Alice never feels like a pastiche. It is always an organic whole. Alice's choreography is spirited and fun and always a joy to watch. Especially remarkable are Lauren Cuthbertson's Alice (she dances the entire 70 minute first act, a test of endurance that leaves her with several large, angry looking bruises and scrapes) and Zenaida Yanowsky's deliriously funny Queen of Hearts. All of the dancers are superb, exemplifying why the Royal Ballet maintains such a high reputation.Joby Talbot's music is distinctive and often quite beautiful. It contains elements reminiscent of Stravinsky, the British Pastoral composers, Brian Easdale's lovely score for the Red Shoes ballet, the film music of John Williams and Minimalist composers like John Adams. What it most definitely is not is a traditional ballet score as composed by Delibes or Tchaikovsky. Those who expect such a conservative score are advised to stick with their ballets. The set, scenic and costume design are all exemplary with work of the highest imaginative force and arresting visual beauty. Alice is a veritable feast for the eyes.The Opus Arte Blu-Ray disc is a technical marvel of sound and image. The music is presented in 2-channel lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and is crystalline in its resolution and beauty of sound. The 1080i video is color saturated and lovely to see. What some reviewers have complained about, and a viewpoint I share to some degree, is the shot selection by the cameras. Much of Alice is filmed at middle distance or even further away with fairly frequent cutaways. I suspect this may have something to do with the large, crimson bruise that Lauren Cuthbertson suffered on her shoulder during the ballet. Cuthbertson never exhibits any discomfort (she is a consummate professional) but it cannot have been easy for her to dance so energetically hampered as she was. The director may have been compensating on the fly in order to minimize showing the injury to his star as she danced in every scene of the first act.Alice suggests that ballet may be morphing into something new: a multimedia presentation incorporating imaginative use of all of the visual and motion arts. This may be where the genius of ballet will settle in the future. If so, ballet isn't dying; it is undergoing a metamorphosis into an entirely new vision of dance. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with all of its humor and beauty and complexity, may be remembered as the first masterpiece of an emerging genre of ballet. And it helps make the future of ballet look a bit less bleak to those who love the dance.Mike Birman

The Royal Ballet (England) at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London has created a delightfully surreal version of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Those who are looking for a camera set steady in the balcony recording steadfastly one angle and one view as from a member of the audience's viewpoint, will hate this. Those who love only the old Romantic Style music will be disappointed. Those with open minds for new forms, new humor, new music, new approaches, burlesque, detailed story telling through dance gestures, who want music almost as a background developing the story, will love this.The opening scene at the home of Alice's parents, her friends, the lower class Jack, the photographer is delightful and has the Victorian Upper Middle Class stereotypes right on. Alice's fall through the rabbit hole is marvelous the decor of the hole changing as she descends, and then ascends back to home. Most of the scenes of Carroll's book are present, but the biting political satire of Carroll's England is absent (at least for this American). The scenes are played for their humor and their human side. This is exceptionally well done.The dancing is very good. The orchestra, while in the pit, is not upfront with lots of noise, but behind, accenting, leading, suggesting, sometimes merely a descant moving the action along. This is played very well, at times almost disappearing into the story line, but never absent. The sets are imaginative and fun. The costumes are elaborate, colorful and surreal as only English costumes can be, with clashes of style even on the same character, leading to being humorous in their own right. The White Rabbit is especially effective as an "on my" type person, standing tall and frequently looking shocked. The duchess in a heavily layered dress and a very broad face is delightful. The Queen of Hearts dances well, at times a burlesque parody of both ballet and modern dance. The effect is actually very funny. Her facial expressions are marvelously well done. Sergei Polunin, an excellent dancer, with the most traditional ballet choreographing in the production, is a likable kind of guy throughout, both as Jack and the Knave of Hearts. The Cheshire Cart in multiple pieces on poles carried by at least 10 stage hands in black, barely visible, is truly a work of art and humor. The photography is marvelous. most often near stage wide, or following a character and his/her dance, or closeup for emotional displays.While not traditional ballet, this is a very enjoyable 120 minutes of dancing fun with frequent smiles and laughs throughout.