Eric Nipp is in Wonderland and loving it.
The former Salmon Arm resident and dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is thoroughly enjoying the change in pace provided by acclaimed choreographer and former RWB alumnus Shawn Hounsell’s innovative interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
“It’s a funny role for me ’cause the guy is a cross-dressing, bearded lady at the circus,” he laughs. “It’s quite fun, I get to slow-motion fight, hit people and scream on stage. It’s very different than Swan Lake.”
The Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter are all on hand, displaying generous doses of wit, camp and humour, says the Ballet.
“The surreal and dark elements that lurk at the original story’s fringes are bravely realized in explosive passages of breathtaking dance and innovative multimedia,” says the company’s website. “Shawn Hounsell has transformed Wonderland into a multi-sensory experience, with edgy and athletic movement, an inventive electro-acoustic soundscape and unexpected visual treats.”
Nipp, who began dance training in Salmon Arm at the age of 11, is a graduate of RWB’s School Professional Division. He spent a season with Ballet Kelowna before returning to Winnipeg.
“This is what I wanted,” he says. “I like Manitoba and I was happy to dance with my friends again.”
The 26-member company opened Wonderland last Wednesday in Winnipeg and is beginning an eight-city tour that includes a stop at Kelowna Community Theatre Tuesday, March 22 at 1:30 and 7 p.m.
As much as he has enjoyed Canadian and American tours, Nipp is excited about a possible return trip to Israel where the corps performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
“It was amazing, the most fun I’ve had on tour,” he says. “We got to swim in the Mediterranean at night.”
He says the ballet was very well received and the company is thinking of going back in the near future.
“The Royal Winnipeg Ballet used to be world-renowned and is trying to get that title back,” he says.
Dancers began working with Hounsell last March to get used to his movement because he’s more contemporary and Royal Winnipeg dancers are more classically based, Nipp says.
“We’ve been working on and off with him ever since,” he says. “Every time he came back, the movement would be more set in our bodies, so we were able to pick up the movement and choreography faster.”
Tickets for the performances are available at 250-860-1470 or at www.ticketmaster.ca.
