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Last weekend I accompanied the lovely Princess Aphrodite to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center to see “Project Alice”. Now, I’m no expert on dance, so please excuse me if I get some terms wrong, but “Project Alice” was, to me, an interesting combination of ballet and modern dance, set to a panoply of excellent progressive music and melded with some poetry and video. If you prefer things simple and traditional, you would have hated “Project Alice,” but I loved it!
Told in two acts, “Project Alice” was a performance based loosely on the world of “Alice in Wonderland”, where the audience was Alice. It was written and directed by Jennifer Alden with excellent costume design by Viviane Wolfe and Autumn Pappan. What really stood out to me was the music of “Project Alice”, which included such disparate artists as The Doors, Switchblade Symphony, Rage Against the Machine, Lee Ann Womack and Bjork! Each song was a short piece with wild costumes and different dance styles.
I enjoyed the unique choreography and the skill and athleticism of the troupe. The set design by Richard Goss was good, but what really impressed me, as a photographer, was the creativity and expertise of the lighting by Deanna Lundgren, which added a great deal to the performance. There were a few videos that were presented between sets, and they were interesting, but they suffered a bit in execution and presentation, particularly compared with the rest of the show.
“Project Alice” did what all good art is supposed to do. It affected me throughout the performance and gave me something to think about when I was driving home. I know several burlesque dancers and the performers of Toxic Goddess, and I couldn’t help but wish they had experienced “Project Alice” with me. I’m sure they would have enjoyed it as much as I did. Unfortunately the show only ran for one weekend, but please keep an eye out for next project by the creators of this performance.
