Welcome to Wonderland

A delightful production, served with verve: the National Ballet of Japan’s recent performance of “Alice in Wonderland” was an unabashed celebration of imagination, deftly showcasing all the wacky wonder of Christopher Wheeldon’s modern ballet classic.

Performance

National Ballet of Japan: “Alice in Wonderland” by Christopher Wheeldon

Place

New National Theatre, Tokyo, Japan, June 12, 2025

Words

Kris Kosaka

Yui Yonezawa and Takafumi Watanabe in “Alice in Wonderland” by Christopher Wheeldon. Photograph by Takashi Shikama

On opening night, principal dancers Yui Yonezawa as Alice and Takafumi Watanabe as Jack/ the Knave of Hearts imbued their roles with all the requisite madcap fun, their precise skills and effortless technical execution balancing out the chaotic antics of their characters.

The magic started with their fun and flirty early pas de deux as Jack and Alice, already a subtle nod to the freedom of imagination in contrast to the adult world of obligation and appearances.

Wheeldon’s distinctive choreography works wonders within the surreal world down the rabbit hole, while the opening scene at the garden party craftily juxtaposes youthful creativity against society’s hierarchical, dry expectations. By the time Lewis Carroll/ the White Rabbit (twitchy perfection by Kosuke Okumura) dives into the camera bag to launch us into Wonderland, we’re embracing the wonder already.

It’s been nearly 15 years since Wheeldon premiered this production to rave reviews at the Royal Opera House in London in 2011. Famously, it was the first full-length narrative ballet commissioned by the Royal Ballet since 1995, and the first of four full-length ballet scores for Joby Talbot (his latest being last year’s “Oscar”, also with Wheeldon). Talbot’s score sets the tone from the opening strains, the propulsive beat layered with increasingly lyrical beauty.

Steven McRae in “Alice in Wonderland” by Christopher Wheeldon. Photograph by Takashi Shikama

Tokyo audiences were further delighted with Royal Ballet principal Steven McRae, the original Mad Hatter reprising his role, the second time he’s performed it as a guest artist with NBJ. McRae’s percussive movements and precise timing were (altogether now!) delightful, and the tap dancing enhances Wheeldon’s balletic vocabulary employed in the ballet.

Another favorite choreographic riff was the various ways Wheeldon mimics the mechanical clicks of a clock, from the tick-tock of heads or arms, the jumpy vigor of the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter’s staccato beats to the use of an acrobatic trick, an illusion, during Alice and the Knave’s partner work at the trial in Act 3, cleverly evoking the hands of time with Yonezawa’s legs.

Yuri Kimura as the Queen of Hearts in “Alice in Wonderland” by Christopher Wheeldon. Photograph by Takashi Shikama

Wheeldon’s droll subversion of the Rose Adagio from “Sleeping Beauty” for the Queen of Hearts is another great performance in Act 3. Yuri Kimura’s excellence outside of the mechanical red heart costume is finally revealed, and her impeccable timing and rubbery flexibility astounds as she’s passed from Card to Card. Costumes (the hedgehogs! The flamingos!) and sets by Bob Crowley inform the whole with a kind of creative synchronicity that is truly a wonder. The puppetry magic of the Cheshire Cat stayed with me the entire train ride home (designs by Toby Olie).

Some of the projections could use updating perhaps, but overall, the production by NBJ shows why this ballet deserves its many accolades—and why many companies around the world have made it part of their repertoires. NBJ is the only one given permission in Japan.

For a ballet, there’s no tragedy, no innocent ingenue betrayed, no deaths (if one discounts the pigs of course!) and with the delightfully dark addition of meat cleavers galore, it stands out as a truly outstanding English ballet. Who can resist Wheeldon’s “Alice?” There’s a meta-twist at the end to add another layer to this very authentic tribute to Lewis Carroll’s classic tale, the ultimate paean to the power of imagination, on stage or the page.

Kris Kosaka

Kris Kosaka is a writer and educator based in Kamakura, Japan. A lifelong ballet fan and studio rat in her youth, she's been contributing to the Japan Times since 2009. She writes across culture, but especially in dance, opera and literature.

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Kris Kosaka

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