It’s 13 years since Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland first tiptoed across the stage of the Royal Ballet before tumbling down a rabbit hole. In that time, this retelling of Lewis Carroll’s episodic adventure story, a cross between a hallucinogenic dream and a gentle coming-of-age narrative, has become a favourite across the world.
In part that’s thanks to Bob Crowley’s inventive designs, full of strong colour, using every trick in the visual book from projections to puppets to lavish costume. But it’s also due to Wheeldon’s ability to blend demanding classical dance steps with comedy and Broadway razzle dazzle.
