NOTE:  This is not the website for Moving Arts Dance.
This was the Press Release for a show which took place in December, 2005.

Moving Arts Dance’s Press Release for
The MAD Hatter Performance and Tea Party
December 1-3, 2005

The MAD Hatter is coming!

Moving Arts Dance, an internationally renowned touring company, is producing a one-of-a-kind performance event, which blends several of our favorite fables into a 90 minute contemporary performance followed by a tea party! Produced by award winning choreographer Anandha Ray and several of her esteemed colleagues, The MAD Hatter Performance and Tea Party establishes a new, soon-to-be-traditional story that is told entirely without words.  In the story, the Granddaughter of Alice in Wonderland (Allyson) falls through the same rabbit hole her grandmother did, but 100 years later! The Ancient MAD Hatter still reigns, as does the Queen of Hearts, but things have changed!  Allyson finds that Wonderland has gone gothic as she meets the zany descendants of Wonderland including the White Rabbit’s great-great-great-great granddaughter (who has been so loved she is no longer white). And, being holiday time, many characters of the Nutcracker Story visit to help save the Formerly White Rabbit from a terrible fate! Audience members sit at Tea Tables and following the performance tea and cake is served to the audience!  Costumes are encouraged.  Arrive early to have your face painted!

St. Paul Travelers Insurance and Moving Arts Dance presents

The MAD Hatter Performance and Tea Party
Dec 1-3 at
Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation
Call Moving Arts Dance for more information 925.938.3300
Or visit http://www.movingartsdance.org

Write to <info@movingartsdance.org>

Press Photos Available! 
Fabulous photos of the MAD Hatter and Alison are available by request
925.938.3300

Further details:

When

There is a special private-showing field trip available for students Friday Dec 2nd at 10:00 AM. There are a limited number of tickets available.

The public showings of the event will be held

Dec 1st at 6:00 pm,
Dec 2nd at 6:00 pm,
and Dec 3rd at 1:00, 4:00, and 7:00 pm

There is an actual TEA PARTY following the event, in which the characters serve “Eat Me” cakes and “Drink Me” potions to the audience. Audience members are encouraged to dress in character as they wish. Those who arrive early can have their faces painted to enhance their characters.

Where

Sponsored by a generous grant from St. Paul Travelers Insurance and support from SOLAD Dance Center, KKDV Radio, The Contra Costa Times, and ARF, the first annual production of The MAD Hatter Performance and Tea Party will be held at Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) in their large Pavilion on Oak Grove Road in Walnut Creek on the corner of Mitchell and Oak Grove.

How Much

General admission Tickets cost $15-$25 and include pre-show facepainting and post-show tea and cookies. Tea Tables can be reserved to assure optimal seating ($100 per table of four).

For info or to purchase tickets call SOLAD Dance Center: 925.938.3390.

The cost of the field trip (10:00 am Friday Dec 2) is $10 per student.   There is no charge for teachers and administrators. This includes “Drink Me” potions and “Eat Me” cookies after the show. If there are students in need of scholarships for financial reasons, please let us know right away.

Contact Info

www movingartsdance.org

info@movingartsdance.org

925.938.3300

The MAD Hatter Performance and Tea Party Artists Info

Producer

This event is created and produced by Anandha Ray, Artistic Director of Moving Arts Dance, who has two masters degrees in dance and was a tenure track Assistant Professor and Director of the dance program at UOP.  She has choreographed over 75 dances and has won many awards for her choreography.  Assistant Producers are Jenny McAllister, Maria LaMance, and Bryon Heinrich.

Choreographers

In addition to Ray, choreographers include:

Dudley Brooks, former dancer with the Nikolais Dance Theater, Artistic Director of Run For Your Life!...it’s a dance company!;

Bryon Heinrich, former dancer with Ballet Trockadero, former artistic director of Central Dance Theater company (he also plays the Queen of Hearts (who is quite old but still looks very young thanks to the wonders of cosmetic surgery!);

Michael Lowe, Assistant Artistic Director of Moving Arts Dance and Artistic Director of Peninsula Ballet.  He danced with Oakland Ballet for almost 3 decades, where he also served as Assistant Director under Ronn Guidi, and where he still serves as choreographer.  He has won many choreography awards including the prestigious “Izzies” award for choreography in 2003;

Jenny McAllister, who is the Artistic Director of Huckabay-McAllister Dance Company;

Holly Morrow, Diablo Magazine’s Best Professional Dancer of 2001, she has danced with San Jose Cleveland Ballet and currently dances with Moving Arts Dance.

Anthony Young, hip hop fusion master, Artistic Director of FUNKMODE.

Dancers:

The world class and World renowned dancers and guests of Moving Arts Dance in addition to their pre-professional dance apprentices Momentum Dance Company.

Featuring

Noel Plemmons as the MAD Hatter

Chelsea Henriques as Allyson

Devon LaRussa as the Formerly White Rabbit

Paris Wages as The Arabian Dancer

Bryon Heinrich as the Queen of Hearts

Maria LaMance and Paris Wages as the Grand Dame Caterpillar (four armed!)

As well as a wonderful cast of crazy characters at the Tea Party, Croquet Match and the Nutcracker Celebration!

Other Artists

The fabulous and magically changing set design created and constructed by Dale McDonald

The tandem puppet for the choreography of Dudley Brooks designed as created by Loran Watkins

Additional costumes for the show are designed and created by

Tea Party guests, Rapper Dee and Rapper Dum, Antio-Dee and Antio-Dum, The Queen of Hearts, MAD Hatter, Allyson, 12 Flowerettes, White Rabbit Requiem (mourners) Show Queen and Sugar Rum Daddy by Anandha Ray and Christina Lowery

Arabian Dancer by Sarah Michael

Formerly White Rabbit by Loran Watkins

The MAD Hatter Performance and Tea Party
Story-line

The MAD Hatter's Performance and Tea Party is an absurd and eccentric foray in to the crazy world of the current day Wonderland at holiday time. The characters are descendants of Wonderland and Nutcracker characters. The performance plays with themes from Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker and The Velveteen Rabbit, with a touch of Peter Pan.

The concept is that Alice's granddaughter falls down the same darn hole as her grandmother did and finds that Wonderland has gone Gothic, with a Victorian twist!

When she lands, she sees the fabled shrinking Wonderland door, (sets by Dale MacDonald) but two of her multiple personalities bicker between themselves about whether or not to open the Pandora’s doors (Choreography by Anandha Ray)!  After a bit of a struggle, finally opening the third door to appear, she finds the mousehole, through which come the great-grandchildren of the Mouse King (the Nutcracker characters are visiting Wonderland for the holidays). The mice mistake her for a friend of the Nutcracker and battle with her (mouse choreography by Holly Morrow). She outwits them, however and follows them through the mousehole into Wonderland!

When she arrives she meets the Ancient and Wise MAD Hatter (now several hundred years old, but no less mischievous), who uses his powerful magic on her (choreography by Michael Lowe).  Interrupting their meeting, the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the Formerly White Rabbit races through (who has been so loved that she too is no longer white...and indeed has raced about working so hard in today's workaholic world that she has lost much of her stuffing and is deathly ill). Following the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the Formerly White Rabbit is the Arabian dancers granddaughter (a la Nutcracker Arabian Dance) who wishes to make Rabbit her pet.

The Ancient and Wise MAD Hatter commands Wonderland to a tea, introducing them to Allyson (choreography by Dudley Brooks). Rabbit, however, grows tired of Arabian’s affections, and races off so quickly that she looses the last of her stuffing and begins to die. In fact, the famed bunny is so near death that a White Rabbit's Requiem (Arabian, Rabbit, and Requiem choreography by Anandha Ray) is held, until the Arabian Dancer's granddaughter calls to the audience to “clap your hands and show you believe in the White Rabbit so she can live!” (yes, a la Peter Pan).

When the Formerly White Rabbit is well, Wonderland celebrates with a big party where the Show Queen (a relative of the Nutcracker's Snow Queen) and the Sugar Rum Daddy (a colleague of the Sugar Plum Fairy) host a party with the honored guest The Queen of Hearts (played by former Ballet Trockadero dancer Bryon Heinrich, who is also the choreographer), who, much like Cher, has a costume change for every appearance!

And then Rapper Dee and Rapper Dum (choreography Anthony Young) begin a gift exchange with much ado about little gifts (choreography Jenny McAllister).  The four-armed Grand Dame Caterpillar (choreography by Dudley Brooks) makes a belated entrance to the party, and immediately thereafter the croquet match begins, with Dee and Dum’s nieces, AntioDee and AntioDum (choreography Jenny McAllister), after which the entire cast of characters frolic in a frivolous tea-fight amid 15,000 paper cups (choreography Anandha Ray)!

Audience members will be seated at tea tables, and are encouraged to dress as a character or wear a crazy hat! Preceding the shows is face-painting to enhance the audience characters.

Following the one-hour performance is a tea party, with the characters of Wonderland serving “Eat Me” cakes and “Drink Me” potions (created by Primo’s Catering) to the audience!