Matthew Pierce – Nicole Belopotosky

I am so bummed that I missed The Washington Ballet’s performance of ALICE (in wonderland) at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre. To reimagine the Lewis Carroll classic, powerful forces of breath-taking talent and visionary direction were combined. From the revolutionary artistic director Septime Webre, designer Liz Vandal (Cirque du Soliel’s OVO), composer Matthew Pierce (who created a completely new score), sets by Jim Cronzer, and puppets by Eric Van Wyk, The Washington Ballet took a trip down the rabbit hole for this season’s grandest production. To capture the incredible costumes, personality and drama of this magnificent performance, the husband and wife team, Jake and Pum Lefebure, of Design Army were brought in for the creative direction of the photo shoot. Known for their unique and surreal creative vision, Design Army was the perfect choice to capture the magic of Wonderland. Hair and makeup artist Dean Krapf created the editorial-style beauty using [similar to the show, but uniquely] new wig and make up designs. For a behind the scenes look into the magical world they created, check out this wonderful interview in Washington Life Magazine.

As described on Design Army’s blog: “Colors and contours take center stage: Alice’s blonde hair is intentionally a mess—after all she just went down a rabbit hole. The White Rabbit is leaping (not hopping) because he’s running late. The Mad Hatter is truly mad—no one knows if it’s the multi-hued jacket he’s wearing or the potent brew in his black-and-white cup. Tweedledee and Tweedledum have a ballet spring to their step. And then there’s the Queen of Hearts, who is seeing red as she demands to know who ate her tarts. Rose petals (and heads) fall around her but the Dancing Card takes her punishment in style with a not-so-lucky number 7 – dripping with red. It’s a dark, deadly wonderland brought to life with a pirouette of vibrant colors.”