Monday, April 04, 2011
Washington Ballet to premiere new ‘Alice’ next season
The Washington Post: "The Washington Ballet will dance on the Turkish Riviera and bring a bit of Lady Gaga into the Kennedy Center in its 2011-12 season, the company has announced. Among the highlights are its first overseas tour in six years, a world-premiere production of “Alice (in Wonderland)”.
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9 comments:
What on earth is it about Alice? I've read it, I like it, but I don't understand why it's become such a big deal over the past two years. I think original work is really important, and at this point, Alice (in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) is unoriginal. There are so many ballets, and a new movie, and the Broadway show -- I just don't understand why CMU chose to do a main stage show revolving around what is quickly becoming an overproduced tale. With the opportunity to create such a complicated devised piece, I only wish it was with more unique material. It seems (although this obviously may not be the case) that CMU is just jumping on the Alice bandwagon.
I agree with Emily. I remember reading Alice in middle school and not even being particularly moved by it. Maybe a production like this would change my mind but I think it's worthwhile to have a variety of themes in one season. Though I guess by contrast it could be interesting to see a bunch of different theatrical styles try their hands at telling the same story.
I agree with Elize, I think it's interesting to see what all these difference group come up with when trying to embrace Alice. I've seen the Disney movie, done the show in high school, saw the tim burton version, Wonderland on broadway, and I would be interested in seeing this ballet. I'm also extremely curious about CMU's production considering they aren't even sticking to any script. Alice already has so much potential, taking out the core of the story and just trying to capture what wonderland is all about seems like a challenge that can forever evolve.
By far the best Alice I ever saw was a movie called Phoebe In Wonderland. It was extremely moving and took a very interesting angle on Wonderland.
I feel like things like these go in fads. I'm not sure why "Alice" is suddenly everywhere, but that doesn't mean its bad. I mean some of the ideas for this "Alice" seem really cool. I agree the show is getting over produced but as long as each one is different I don't think the material is tapped out yet. I just wish that the new enthusiasm could be a little more broad. There are plenty of old books that would make fabulous movies, plays, or in this case ballets. Why is everyone focusing on the same one? I have to agree with Emily and wonder if CMU is just doing "Alice" because of everyone else. It just seems strange to me that the team talks about how unique they are. Well I guess we will all see how true that is or not when the show opens.
I agree with Mary. Alice is just a fad right now that everyone just wants to take a part in. It's like when vampires blew up right after Twilight became huge. It's weird a kind of annoying but I like seeing peoples different take on the classic story. The musical "Wonderland" is very different from the original interruption but adds a modern and fresh take to Alice. I have no idea how "Alice" at CMU is going to look like but I'm excited to see how they have taken it and brought it into modern times. But the reason Alice is probably so big right now is because it's still a good story. A fun tale about a girl getting lost in a fantastical world. You can take it anywhere you want to and add as many special effects as you can afford and it will always be justified because you are in this strange Wonderland where anything is possible.
Art sometimes works in circles, in patterns and cycles. When "Dante's Peak" came out in February of 1997, another volcano movie (it was CALLED "Volcano!") was released only three months later. Asteroid movies did this a year later. When TaeBo took off in the early 2000s, every gym and martial arts club jumped on the bandwagon. For pete's sake, look at freakin' ZUMBA...
There's never just ONE of anything. When someone sees another group have a success with an idea, a variation of that idea is soon to follow. This year, it seems to be Alice in Wonderland. And it's not entirely surprising. The themes in Alice seem very appropriate right now. With budget cuts looming over everyone, the fate of the Arts in general on a dangerous precipice and no company sure of it's own fate I'm not surprised to see so many people looking to a story about an innocent girl making her way through a strange and exciting yet dangerous world for inspiration.
I think Emily has a point, but there IS a certain something about Alice that opens so many doors in our minds. The story can be taken in so many different directions from nightmarish fantasy, childish dreams, drug trips, escapes, ALL OF THEM!? Granted a lot of the reproductions have simply butchered the tale but there's always more exploration that can be done with the work. It will hopefully always be captivating.
I'm really interested in all this Alice as well. There's Alice on Broadway, Alice here on campus, Alice in the ballet, Disney remakes, horror video games, and if you look at fringe festivals you'll see Alice stories.
There's a doctoral dissertation here. I think it has something to do with the individual in contemporary society where technlogy moves so fast and day-to-day culture is constantly changing.
Or maybe it's weird enough to be general enough that it can be universal. If it makes for engaging theater then why change it?
I think its probably the later and rather looking at Alice we should be looking at how new works are developed. Is this Alice trend a sign that theater is looking towards already told stories rather than investing in new stories where liberties may not be so easily taken?
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