This ballet is at its best when someone is at risk of having their head chopped off – which always brings a bit of urgency to proceedings. Kristen McNally with a cleaver (as the Cook) has been one of the highlights of the Royal Ballet’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland since it was created by Christopher Wheeldon in 2011; ditto the deliciously fearsome Queen of Hearts, dishing out diktats in a costume so fabulously extra it has to be wheeled on stage.
Lauren Cuthbertson, the original Alice, has now graduated into the Queen’s role. She may not be quite as terrifying as Zenaida Yanowsky’s original, but she is very funny, and having a ball. Meanwhile, for opening night, Francesca Hayward steps into Alice’s shoes.
Thirteen years on, Bob Crowley’s vividly coloured designs, not to mention the grisly kitchen straight out of a Roald Dahl book, are still winners, embellished with projections and puppets, and all stops pulled out. But this ballet’s central stumbling block remains: the episodic nature of Lewis Carroll’s wordy book is a tricky conceit for dance. What we have is essentially a summery version of the Nutcracker, replacing snowflakes and Christmas tree with florals and alfresco tea (just lacking Tchaikovsky’s gloriously singalong tunes in Joby Talbot’s more cinematic score). Our central character, a pretty girl, goes off into a fantasy land where colourful characters and escapades happen around her in a series of vignettes.
Hayward and her Knave of Hearts, William Bracewell, are two of the most human, emotionally available performers this company has, but this isn’t really the forum for that. They dance beautifully, of course, and Wheeldon’s steps have detail, character and inventive style. There’s a clear Ashton influence in the footwork, in the opening setting of English restraint and in the comedy dame (here the Duchess, danced by Gary Avis in his element).
The supporting cast brings good energy: Daichi Ikarashi and Leo Dixon are a peppy pair of frog and fish footmen, and Steven McRae dons his tap shoes once more as the Mad Hatter. There’s so much to enjoy, but not every element feels essential. Back in 2011, much was made of the fact that this was the first new three-act ballet at Covent Garden in 16 years. In hindsight, two acts might have been just right.
• At the Royal Opera House, London, until 6 July
