Travel into the peculiar and nonsensical world of Alice’s imagination as she encounters curious characters and astonishing sights, in En Pointe Indiana Ballet’s original narrative of The Adventures in Alice in Wonderland May 12 – 13, 2023 at Anderson University’s Reardon Auditorium.
Choreographed and directed by co-artistic directors Pollyana Ribeiro and Robert Moore, the ‘curiouser and curiouser’ full-length performance features a family-friendly retelling of Lewis Carroll’s famous story of magical adventures through the elegance of ballet and striking costuming.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“ — so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
If you ask us, we think you should hop down the rabbit hole this May with a cup of tea and join us for this wondrously wonderful performance full of instantly recognizable characters, quirky fantasy and sweeping melodies.
“We always strive to find ways to connect Indy area residents with the art of ballet,” said co-artistic director Robert Moore. “Alice in Wonderland is a charming and well known story with many beloved characters; yet, as artistic directors, we are afforded the opportunity to be as creative as we like. We are able to take our professional experiences from performing this ballet and translate them into a production for our entire school. Due to the large scale of this ballet, we have been working on this behind the scenes for over a year. We welcome this challenge and are very excited to add this as our fifth large scale production to our repertoire.”
Act I, Alice falls asleep in the park while reading a boring book without any pictures. As she dozes off, she sees a hurried and worrisome rabbit. She follows him into his briar and accidentally falls down into a world that doesn’t make much sense. She encounters a garden of living flowers and a mesmerizing caterpillar. As she travels on she meets a sneaky and unhelpful cat. He points her to the direction of the Hatter and the opposite direction towards the March Hare. But, she is flustered as she has no idea where she is nor where she is going.
“In that direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw round, “lives a Hatter: and in that direction,” waving the other paw, “lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.”
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
Act II, you will encounter a fanfare parade for the very boisterous and demanding Queen of Hearts. She challenges Alice to a game of croquet that turns out to be quite lopsided and impossible to win as a flamboyance of flamingos and loyal soldiers rig the game in the Queen’s favor. The characters come together for a party at the Queen’s home where they entertain themselves with a high-spirited flamboyant waltz. Meanwhile one of the Queen’s tarts goes missing and the Queen unleashes her fury onto Alice. Her temper rages so much so that she calls for her execution. You will soon find that Alice is not the thief during this vibrant and dramatic second act that will have you hoping Alice gets a fair judgment at her trial.
There are sure to be surprises at every turn, as En Pointe brings together world-class dance with enchanting family entertainment in a peculiar wonderland. The two act full-length ballet, features 98 dancers and magical entertainment for all ages, as Alice encounters a cast of curious characters, from the Queen of Hearts and nutty Mad Hatter to the March Hare, sleepy Dormouse and more.
En Pointe’s The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland premieres Friday May 12, 2023 at 7 p.m. at Anderson University’s Reardon Auditorium, with a matinee performance on Saturday May 13, 2023 at 2 p.m. Tickets to this quizzical work of art are available at enpointe.yapsody.com
Add to the fanciful experience and join Alice and her friends for high tea 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. prior to the Saturday matinee performance. The reception hall will be elaborately themed to celebrate some of the most beloved characters of Alice in Wonderland. Plus, a personal hostess will be at guests’ service as they partake in fine teas, tarts and delicate finger sandwiches.
Characters will be in attendance to meet, greet and entertain all tea party guests. En Pointe’s professional photographer will be on-hand to capture magical moments with Alice, the Mad Hatter, White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, March Hare, Dormouse and more! Seating is limited and $25 (per guest) tickets can be found here.
About En Pointe Indiana Ballet:
En Pointe Indiana Ballet is a classical ballet school located just minutes from Indianapolis offering high-quality training to students ages 3-22. As a Central Indiana dance studio, En Pointe serves Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Geist, Zionsville and the surrounding area dance students. Additionally, En Pointe is proud to have pre-professional dancers from across the globe study with the studio and prominent guest instructors visit annually. Annually, the classical ballet school brings exceptional live dance to audiences through diverse repertoire.