THE RED SHOE DIARY
Alice ballet a visual treat
Q There aren’t a lot of homicidal maniac roles for women in story ballets. Tell us about the Red Queen.
A It’s a comic role. There are not very many opportunities in the repertoire to just be silly and funny, so I love it. (Choreographer) Christopher Wheeldon gave us a lot of insight into each of the characters. For the Red Queen, he really wanted me to have two personalities. There are moments when she’s raging and homicidal, you know, ‘Off with her head!’ that sort of thing. But at other times she’s crazy in more of a funny, light way. There’s a wonderful parody of the Rose Adagio (from Sleeping Beauty) where my suitors are feeding me jam tarts. It’s a commanding role because you have to switch from being harsh and strong and a bit terrifying to being quite silly, but you always have to be in control.
Q The ballet supplements the dancing with pantomime. Is it difficult to keep the two gestural languages separate and distinct when you’re performing?
A It’s true that there’s a lot of pantomime, but that’s very English. The Royal Ballet, of course, is used to it, they do pantomime all the time. But at the National Ballet we come out of that English tradition too, so learning that kind of movement wasn’t entirely new to us.
Q Alice uses video, photos, lighting illusions, elaborate props, huge costumes, incredible makeup and masks. How do you make sure the actual dancing projects over all that stagecraft?
A It’s completely different from other ballets. It’s a visual feast; it’s so much fun and there’s so much to look at that it’s almost overwhelming, even for the dancers. But at its heart Alice is a fairy tale with wonderful characters. Without them there’s no story. Also, there’s so much dancing, and it’s very technical. You never feel that the dancing is taking a backseat to all the effects.
Q Most new ballets use mish-mash scores sewn together from different musical pieces and genres that generally fit the mood of each scene. For Alice, the producers commissioned a full new score by British composer Joby Talbot. What do you think of the music?
A It’s quite wonderful. It’s the kind of music where you hear it and you know immediately what you should be seeing. Each character has a theme, so whenever they appear the audience hears it. It’s hummable and recognizable, and so pleasing to the ear. Having an original score like this makes our work as dancers much easier, because it’s composed in a way that’s cohesive from beginning to end.