Lewis Carroll's tales of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were a staple of my childhood. We read the unsanitized versions and Grimm's most grim before I saw any of the animated interpretations. l couldn't quite put my finger on the vibe of Momix: Alice. It was more than a dance performance but didn't punch far above its weight as a surreal and trippy slide down the rabbit hole. Artistic director Moses Pendleton created Alice as a surreal visual pun.
Pendleton founded Momix in 1980 almost a decade after co-founding Pilobolous Dance Theater in Los Angeles. Pilobolous is considered a ground-breaking leader in creating beauty through unique forms of physicality in dance. That influence is seen in the choreography for Alice. Momix expands on that uniqueness with the inventive use of projection and lighting design by Michael Korsch. The room of mirrors was one of the most intriguing effects. The backdrop of the stage varied from Victorian doors to darkness to psychedelic colors. There were several Alices on stage at once, also producing a mirrored effect. Inhe dance of Alice Down the Rabbit Hole, the dancers seemed to be completely swallowed by the cisterns dotting the stage. Most of the dances followed that attempt at surrealism and amped up the trippy effects as the show progressed.
Most of the usual characters were there and some were more visual puns than others. Advice from a Blue Caterpillar was a great example of surrealism in my mind. Dancers on blue bouncing balls slithered about the stage. Mad Hatters was a lively and funny dance. The Mad Queen of Hearts did not seem quite as mad as a hatter but the costume design by Phoebe Katzin gave that feeling of melting or three-dimensional cards
The second half was the Through the Looking Glass journey of Alice. It did not have the trippy effect of the first half but there was beautiful dancing. The Momix ensemble's dancers have trained or performed with some of the best companies in the world. The strength and endurance of the dancers were phenomenal throughout Alice. It was the interpretation of Lewis Carroll's work that gave me pause. The show ends with Go Ask Alice dancing to the tune "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. That was an obvious play on someone else's work. In turn, Grace Slick's lyrics were based on the story by Carroll under the influence of the LSD culture.
I commend the music that Pendleton selected. It was a soundtrack filled with artists like Danny Elfman, Franz Ferdinand, Anna Tijoux, and other genres. The soundtrack was fun with a punk vibe. The addition of Jefferson Airplane was the most obvious and I wonder if Pendleton wanted to use "White Rabbit" as the springboard for this work. It was fun to see the Alice character grow up to the rafters with that song playing.
Lewis Carroll's fevered tale of potions, pills, and absurdities can have man interpretations. Alice was a good mix of the different characters. I wish that the Jabberwock was more prominent, but art evolves and perhaps Pendleton will see fit to add the nonsensical creature to his menagerie of characters. Momix's Alice was a lovely time and suitable for children 6 and up. I saw mostly adults in the audience who went ooh and aah at the contorting dancers, colors, and special effects. It is good to be a child at heart if only for about 90 minutes. 2 and 1/2 stars.
Momix's Alice was a one-night performance on March 9 at the Auditorium Theatre. This performance was a part of the Auditorium Theatre's Stir Your Soul dance series. For more information please visit www.auditorium theatre.org and www.momix.com.
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