Katelyn Moorman
Staff Writer
In the “Alice in Wonderland” adaptation, “Wonderland: Alice’s Adventures in Three-Dimensional Space,” vertical dance helps liven up the performance.
“I think what we’re able to do by adding movement, music and spoken word really animates the story in a different way,” said UW Department of Theatre and Dance Professor, Margaret Wilson. “The Thrust Theatre is a very steeply rigged house, so the vertical dance sort of takes on a different dimension there.”
Wilson said applying vertical dance to the source material came naturally. Elements such as Alice falling down the rabbit hole are easily incorporated into the production. Vertical dance “allows us to use the space really dynamically,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s husband and dance partner, Neil Humphrey, had gone to a workshop for vertical dance and decided to bring what he had learned back to the university. Wilson said they started off with annual performances in Vedauwoo, which lasted about seven years.
The two then began to teach a class about vertical dance, in which students learned about safety, rigging and how to dance in a harness. The next step was looking at how to integrate vertical dance into performances within the department, which Wilson said they have done for a number of years.
“We’ve been doing it for quite a while,” Wilson said, “but we’re really excited to be able to do it within such a visually thematic way that people will have some sort of association with.”
“Dancers in this production have to overcome a number of challenges,” Wilson said. The rehearsal process is slightly different than a typical production because of the vertical dance, so the dancers must “find control in a different part of their body.”
There is also the use of the off-stage pulley that dancers have to navigate around. One rope connects to a dancer on-stage while the other end connects to another dancer off-stage. The timing between the two dancers is imperative to ensure that they move at the correct times.
A theatrical setting with no lights or a dark backstage can also be difficult, Wilson said, especially when considering the dancers’ safety. However, some of these challenges could be considered good for the dancers.
“Vertical dance is great for the dancers because it enhances their spacial awareness,” said Wilson. “To be able to work on the stage level, and then to work sort of half-way through, and then to be very high up in the air has been a really good challenge for us to try and integrate all those things.”
The whimsical nature of “Alice in Wonderland” is enhanced by vertical dance. The use of space was big for this production. Wilson said they tried to look at every possible way of using space, which they could not have done without vertical dance.
“Even though you know they’re attached to a rope and the rope is attached to the ceiling, there’s a moment when you’re watching them where you forget that, and you just see them floating in the air,” Wilson said.
As for the physical aspects of the production, Wilson said there would be someone playing the character and another person voicing them. Musical theatre students recorded the voices for the characters while the dancers provide the movements and appearance of the characters.
Faculty member Sean Stone composed the music and wrote the lyrics for this production, and Wilson said this original music combined with the other elements makes the production different.
The production has been working with the Shell #D Visualization Center, which Wilson said created a virtual reality experience for people that come to the performance. It will be located in the lobby of the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts is about 20 minutes before the performance and during intermission. With this addition, Wilson said, “everyone will have a chance to enter into a 3-dimensional world.”
“Wonderland: Alice’s Adventures in Three-Dimensional Space” will be performed in the Thrust Theatre within the Buchanan Center Nov. 12 through Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.
