‘Down the Rabbit Hole’
BY MOLLIE S. WATERS
The Greenville Standard
The young ladies of Sonya’s Dance & Fitness performed “Down the Rabbit Hole” as their annual recital on June 7 and 8 at the Ritz Theatre in downtown Greenville.
The performance opened with a brief introduction by owner and instructor Sonya Rice.
Rice explained that the performance was their interpretation of both the famous “Alice in Wonderland” book written by Lewis Carroll in 1865 and the Disney film by the same name, which was released in 1951.
What many may not know about Carroll’s book is something Rice explained in her introduction. The novel is considered part of the “nonsense genre” that Carroll and others popularized during that time.
Carroll actually got his inspiration for the book while he was a student at Trinity College at Oxford University in England.
The headmaster’s daughter was named Alice. Carroll and other students often interacted with the headmaster and his family, including Alice.
Carroll used his surroundings as inspirations for the settings in the book, including a green door in a garden wall that became the door through which Alice chases the White Rabbit.
Sonya’s Dance & Fitness students captured the essence of Carroll’s story through their inventive use of key scenes from the work.
Dance numbers included “Falling…Down the Rabbit Hole,” which saw Alice falling asleep, then waking up as the dream Alice in order to begin her chase of the White Rabbit.
“We Don’t Want Weeds in our Garden” was another number from the show. It featured the Beginning Ballet students as flowers who are trying to expel a miniaturized Alice from their garden because they think she is a weed.
Other numbers included “Whoooo Areeee Youuuuuu?” where Alice meets the Caterpillar.
Xada Ingram played the pivotal role of Alice. Other notable performers included Kimball Nall as the White Rabbit, Riley Campbell as the Queen of Hearts, Mary Virginia Meadows and Sarah Nichols as the Queen’s Cards, Hannah Sells as the Mad Hatter, Hayden Fail as the March Hare, Sydni Bowers as the Cheshire Cat, Zoe Coon as the Caterpillar and the Dormouse, and Lilly Boswell as Tweedle Dee.
The performance also featured students from all of Sonya’s Dance & Fitness’ other classes as well.
