By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A local dance company will teleport audiences into the world of Alice in Wonderland this weekend at the Missouri Theatre in downtown St. Joseph.
Dance Arts Center owner Marla Heeler says the performing company likes to put on performances people are familiar with, which is why she and her staff chose Alice in Wonderland
"So many characters, so many colors, so much fun, and so we decided what the heck but it's always hard when you're doing a story from the ground up, even though Alice in Wonderland is very old it's been done numerous ways as cartoons, and even other ballet companies have done it as a story ballet," Heeler tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
"But you always want to make it your own, so we just started working on it this summer."
After several months of rehearsals, the Dance Arts Preforming Company is ready to transport audiences into the world of Wonderland.
Dancer Elliot DeSchepper plays the lead role of Alice and says she was very excited to land the role
"It's always fun to have a good role in a ballet like this," DeSchepper proudly says.
One challenge she knew she would have to face in a lead role, however, was the amount of choreography
"It's just a lot, the show is like an hour long and that's a lot of choreography, but I did it," DeSchepper says.
DeSchepper and her fellow performers will take the stage on Saturday at 2pm and 7pm.
Heeler says audiences coming to the show should be prepared to go on an adventure.
"That's what Alice in Wonderland is all about is this crazy adventure and trying to decide at the end whether or not it's really happened or if it's a dream," Heeler explains. "So, I think if they come ready to have some fun and go on that adventure and just hang with all our different characters."
The performance will last just over an hour and includes an intermission. Tickets are still available for purchase at JoMoTickets.com.