A garden party on a sunny afternoon. Alice. A white rabbit and a rabbit hole… a caterpillar, a Cheshire cat, a Mad Hatter, and eventually a Queen of Hearts. “As Alice journeys through Wonderland,” explains the introduction for Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “she encounters countless strange creatures.”
“She’s swept off her feet by the charming Knave of Hearts, who’s on the run for stealing the tarts. Confusion piles upon confusion. Then Alice wakes with a start. Was it all a daydream?”
The vibrant 2017 production by The Royal Ballet included The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, as well as the almost graceful (but mostly delightfully bumbling) performance above: The Tart Adage.
Principal dancer Laura Morera stars as the formidable Queen of Hearts, a demanding royal who expects perfection from her loyal playing card guards.
This scene is described as “a send-up” of The Sleeping Beauty’s iconic Rose Adagio, in which the Queen is “courted” with jam tarts instead of the roses that are brought by Sleeping Beauty’s suitors.
Watch these handpicked ballet performances next:
• Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, a performance by The Royal Ballet
• The Mistake Waltz (with an Anatomy of a Dance)
• What Happens Just Before Show Time At the Met Opera
And do not miss The Boston Ballet’s dancing Nutcracker Bear.
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