NBOC's AAIW

[J.B. Wood]

Hello to the few of us still using aab. I recently saw the National
Ballet of Canada's (joint venture with UK's Royal Ballet) "Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland" at the Kennedy Center here in DC. My take on
it was 1) great score by Joby Talbot, 2) stagecraft wow factor and 3)
dancing was routine classical ballet - nothing special.

IOW, while AAIW was indeed enjoyable, ballet was one component of the
overall presentation. Kind of like a modern pop music performance with
intricate lighting and pyrotechnics. The male danseurs especially
didn't do the high leaps and athletics that one generally associates
with classical story ballets. Kudos to the danseuse portraying Alice,
though, who had to dance for most of the entire performance. Anyone
else with thoughts on AAIW? Sincerely,

[Trog Woolley]

Post by J.B. Wood
Hello to the few of us still using aab. I recently saw the National
Ballet of Canada's (joint venture with UK's Royal Ballet) "Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland" at the Kennedy Center here in DC. My take on
it was 1) great score by Joby Talbot, 2) stagecraft wow factor and 3)
dancing was routine classical ballet - nothing special.
IOW, while AAIW was indeed enjoyable, ballet was one component of the
overall presentation. Kind of like a modern pop music performance with
intricate lighting and pyrotechnics. The male danseurs especially
didn't do the high leaps and athletics that one generally associates
with classical story ballets. Kudos to the danseuse portraying Alice,
though, who had to dance for most of the entire performance. Anyone
else with thoughts on AAIW? Sincerely,

I didn't know that National Ballet Of Canada were doing the RB's Alice.
I saw the RB's version when it was shown on the TV here in the UK and I
thought much the same as you; nice sets shame about the choreography.
Normally I keep recordings of these televised performances, but in this
case I didn't. For me, the main problem is the story. I never liked the
book as a child and so I think it was on a hiding to nothing before the
curtain has even risen.

I see NBC are coming to London in April with R&J. Should I make the long
trek to see them? It looks a very tradional telling of the story, and I
feel if you've seen one classical R&J you've seen them all. I very much
liked the Royal New Zealand Ballet version of R&J, done as haute couture
models. I should go as I've never seen NBC live; I'll have to see how
far the pennies stretch!