The very first version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written in 1865. It is still being told to today, 146 years later. But why? What is it about the famous young girl, dressed in blue that keeps us fascinated for over a century? I believe it is that there is an Alice in all of us. There is a young soul, eager to break away from the ordinary, and exist in the extraordinary.
It seems that these days, it is 9 to 5. It is suit pants, cubicles, and microwave dinners. We swim in the usual. We bathe in beige.
Not Alice.
Troubled by the stifling expectations of the society in which she lives, she runs away and falls into a rabbit hole, where she is transported to a world much unlike ours.
In this world there is no beige or 9 to 5 job. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It is peculiar and unusual, colorful and absurd. Cats can talk, hatters are mad, rabbits are running late, and magic mushrooms make Alice grow to preposterous proportions. It is a world where the impossible is possible. It is a world of wonder.
Choreographer for Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Wonderland, Shawn Hounsell, explained it perfectly when he said that "like her, we use fantasy to hide from the mundane reality of our everyday lives."
Alice's ability to escape the conventional world is a desire that exists in all of us. When we get home and take off the suit pants, we watch fantastical movies, we read fiction books, and we get lost in TV, video games, day dreams, and entertainment of all kinds.
There is an Alice in all of us. We like to break away from the daily grind of our lives, and exist in fantasy, even if just in our heads. Even for just a moment, until the movie ends, or until we turn the last page.
Discover your Alice this weekend with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Wonderland at the Orpheum Theatre! Save up to 47% on tickets when you take advantage of this limited discount offer from Goldstar starting today!
-Allyson
Taubenheim
Marketing Intern, Northrop Concerts and
Lectures
Image credit: Carla Schleicher
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