What Is The Tat Adage Compared To Alice In Wonderland

2693 Words11 Pages

This essay will analyse the ‘Tart Adage’ from the ballet ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon in 2011 (Royal Opera House 2018). This ballet was based on Lewis Carroll’s 1865 book Alice Adventures in Wonderland, and Christopher Wheeldon describes it as a ‘Classical ballet but with contemporary influences’ (Royal Opera House 2017). Since then, there have been multiple film adaptations, including Disney’s ‘animated Alice Adventures in Wonderland in 1951’, then made into a real-life version in 2010 (Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton) and in 2016 (Alice Through the Looking Glass by James Bobin). The ballet follows Alice, a young girl who ends up falling down a rabbit hole into a completely different world, where …show more content…

It draws the audience in to watch her rather than anything happening in the space, whereas Aurora blends in. Within the Tart Adage, the Queen of Hearts is the villain, considered typical in ballet, a typically powerful position but not usually occupied by a female character. At the same time, Aurora is a princess looking for love, in this case, the victim of Carabosse. Furthermore, a substantial similarity between the Tart Adage and the Rose Adage is that both Aurora and the Queen of Hearts use their individual attributions to get what they want. In the Rose Adage, Aurora uses her prettiness and femineity to attract the suitors to marry her, whereas the Queen of Hearts uses an iron fist of fear to get what she wants. This presents a romance vs power …show more content…

This is quite a masculine point of view, which would make sense as all of the important people that went into creating the character were men, apart from the actress and dancer Laura Morea herself. But, on the other hand, if a man were put in this position, he would be considered robust, authoritative and honourable. An example of this is in the Tart Adage, where the cards squabble over each other not to have to dance with the Queen, whereas if the roles were reversed, with a male in a seat of power as a female, there would be no hesitation; you would do what you are asked of no questions asked. However, like in real life today, a similarity is in this scene where the cards come together and eventually partner with the Queen, putting on a fake smile and helping each other