Ballet group takes first BYU crack at ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Sean Cooney as the Mad Hatter, Riley Duck as Alice, Chandler Leany as the White Rabbit and Rachel Cornell as the Queen of Hearts star in "Alice in Wonderland" presented by BYU Theatre Ballet. The production runs Thursday through Saturday in the de Jong Concert Hall.
Riley Duck stars as the titular character in BYU Theatre Ballet's "Alice in Wonderland," opening Thursday in the de Jong Concert Hall. The production comes to life after nearly three years of design and student-mentored choreography went into the show.
Rachel Cornell as the Queen of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland" presented by BYU Theatre Ballet. The show is said to be a visual feast featuring beautiful new sets, stunning costumes and expressive makeup.
Chandler Leany as the White Rabbit in BYU Theatre Ballet's "Alice in Wonderland," opening Thursday in the de Jong Concert Hall. The show is said to be a visual feast featuring beautiful new sets, stunning costumes and expressive makeup.
The wonder of Wonderland comes alive with a campus-wide effort when BYU Theatre Ballet presents the first-ever university production of “Alice in Wonderland,” opening Thursday.
The interdisciplinary undertaking first began three years ago as faculty mentored two students who choreographed the entire show. Ballet company artistic director Shani Robison said the production marks a paradigm shift in how student artists were involved in the whole creation and design of the show.
It provided “a real-life experience to catapult them from their BYU experience into the real world,” Robison said in a news release. “I felt that ‘Alice in Wonderland’ would be a unique and perfect opportunity for this experiment as it offers so many interesting characters, places and an endless palate of creative possibilities.”
Dancers perform to a special selection of Tchaikovsky music arranged by Carl Davis, who first created the piece for the English National Ballet. The track is composed of excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s work and selected accordingly to match specific characters and individual scenes. When Davis heard about BYU’s student-led production, he donated the rights to use the score as a gesture of support.
The two lead choreographers, Elise Meiners-Schwidt and Charis Dexter, both graduated from BYU last summer and were hired back on to finish producing the show.
Riley Duck, 20, portrays Alice, a 12-year-old girl who finds excitement in everything she sees. She said the character embodies the joy and happiness of youth.
Like any traditional ballet, the “Alice in Wonderland” production uses no dialogue to advance the story and instead uses dance and movement.
“It’s been way more difficult trying to make the ballet come across to the audience and make sense, because ‘Alice in Wonderland’ — the story goes all over the place anyways,” Duck said. “So it’s been difficult trying to make all the parts connect, but we’ve done a great job doing that.
“We do lot of miming. It’s such a complex story anyway and it’s even more difficult when you don’t have words to describe what’s going on.”
When Alice first arrives in Wonderland she has to tell her new friends, Mad Hatter, March Hair and the Door Mouse how she got there. The character tries to express how she was reading a book and then saw a white rabbit and fell down the rabbit hole — all without using any words.
Producers designed the rabbit hole scene using a collection of creative theatrics. An enormous tree stands center stage with a large hole in it that Alice and the white rabbit dive through. Then, to the side, an actor cast as an Alice double suddenly appears through a scrim and she’s hanging in the air. As the double remains stationary, video projections and objects fly up above her creating the illusion Alice is falling down.
“It’s something you have to see to be able to believe what we’re doing on stage,” Duck said. “It’s one of those things you can’t just hear about — you have to come and see.
The Court of Doors scene is one of Duck’s most favorite and she said it’s also one of the most magical.
Alice goes up to a big door and slides the door aside where she sees Wonderland for the first time.
“It is the most magical scene, because it is the first time the whole audience sees Wonderland — the first time Alice sees Wonderland. And behind the door you have the garden of the living flowers and the Caterpillar. It’s really cool,” she said.
The Caterpillar character is played by five dancers who move together in rhythm in the form of a caterpillar. The dancer at the head blows bubbles as she interrogates the new Wonderland visitor.
Sean Cooney portrays the Mad Hatter character, who displays an egotistical and borderline schizophrenic personality. The character still enjoys throwing a good tea party and eventually rescues Alice from the Queen of Hearts with the help of his friends.
The 23-year-old said several ballets have a story where audiences can anticipate what will happen next. Whether it’s a princess and prince story or there might be a defined evil character.
“But with this one, ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ it’s really hard to put your finger on — except for maybe the Queen of Hearts — who the good guys are and who the bad guys are,” Cooney said. “Every scene you really don’t know what’s going to happen next.
“It really explores the imagination of the mind,” Cooney added. “All these characters and animals and the music complements that. The costumes complement that imagination and creativity.”
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
What: BYU Ballet Company premieres first-ever university presentation of classic fantasy story.
When: Through Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU campus
Tickets: $13-$15
Info: (801) 422-BYU1, byuarts.com