Dance critic Edwin Denby once wrote that “everyday life is full of highlights.” That observation came to mind during Momix’s “Alice” on Thursday. This is a mediocre and busy 85 minute spectacle. Now at the Joyce Theater. Nothing strange was happening. The exact opposite. At that point in the show, the idea of simply stepping outdoors into a city night and seeing traffic, sunsets, or street people was more fascinating than any fantasy depicted on stage.
Founded 42 years ago by choreographer Moses Pendleton, Momix, known for his illusionist luxury, inspired Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Invented and directed by Pendleton, this work stirs short propeller and costume vignettes (22 of which), roughly derived from Carroll’s world. Except for the repeated appearance of multiple Alice, they tend to get lost and come and go, but these scenes are rarely put together. Read them as replaceable parts. If you’re looking for a serious connection to a story or storytelling, this isn’t a rabbit hole for you.
The opening is almost as good as it gets, and in retrospect it has a simple elegance that feels refreshing. Against the projection of the river and the lush landscape, Jade Primisias (first Alice) sits on a horizontally hung ladder and reads a book with the name of her character. As her feet graze the floor with a lightweight bounding motion, the ladder begins to rotate (with the help of another performer). Therefore, her descent begins.
From there, it is an onslaught of attempts at psychedelic images, which often approach mediocre or vaguely offensive. In many creatures and caricatures, we encounter a herd of wild rabbits. This is the opportunity for the most athletic dance of the night (many split jumps). A trio of mud hatters covered in hilarious suspenders. And many queens representing all the playing card suits. Acrobatic tricks and lifts separate orderly choreography, sometimes including objects such as exercise balls and rolling platforms. Costumes with their own lives distort and stretch the body.
The projected background, reminiscent of a low resolution screensaver, try to carry us. We are on the beach. Now we are in the jungle. The high-energy soundtrack, overloaded and well-thought-out playlists seem to be intended to evoke an unspecified sensation of “exotic.” The scene “The Tweedles,” which combines Hindi wood music with a bubbling white baby mask, is meant to be interesting. It comes off as clumsy and careless. The most truly trippy scene is the shadowy “cracked mirror”. In this scene, reflective props and spider lights work with the dancer and become disoriented.
“Alice” is physically demanding, and the small cast of eight dancers is clearly commendable for carrying that heavy load that can be dangerous as well as intense. On Thursday, a dancer unintentionally staged in a cloaked person holding his head with a large round protrusion on his back, with his face and body covered in elastic material. Fell from. The audience gasped. It seemed to hurt. The fallen performer managed to get back and scramble the wings, and fortunately, a company spokeswoman said he wasn’t injured.
Still, the incident revealed the dangers of this kind of work and emphasized a persistent question: is “Alice” really worthy of danger when wonders can come to us in so many ways? ??
Alice
Until July 24th at The Joyce Theater. joyce.org.
