The Noreste Ballet Company delivered a wondrous night to attendees with its spring production of “Alice in Wonderland” March 21.

Started in 2022 by Natalie Coreas, then a second-year criminal justice and psychology combined major, Noreste was created to be a classical ballet company without barriers. Coreas emphasized the acceptance of anybody with an interest in ballet, allowing individuals to hone their skills and redefine their love for ballet in a professional setting.

“We really focus on the diversity and inclusion aspect of it all,” Coreas said. “We want people to feel like they belong here and that no matter where they come from in terms of dancing background, they’re more than welcome to come and have a performance-based opportunity at Northeastern.” 

This semester’s production of “Alice in Wonderland” differed from Noreste’s previous ballets, which include “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker.” It features all-original choreography from Noreste and music from The Royal Ballet.

“After we finished ‘Nutcracker,’ we wanted to pick a story that would draw crowds and people wouldn’t get bored with,” said Ana Antic, a third-year biochemistry major and Noreste’s secretary. “We wanted to pick something that’s interesting to perform but also interesting for the audience to watch, which is why we picked ‘Alice’ because it’s a little out there — a little fun, a little crazy.”

The play began its first act with a grand garden party scene, where Mia Gatzke, a first-year chemistry major who plays Alice, graced the stage with a beautiful dance. Alice becomes intrigued by the Flirt, the only person who shows her any interest. However, as the party ends, she meets the White Rabbit, who shoves her down a rabbit hole to a mysterious location.

“My favorite part was probably the White Rabbit,” said Amanda Ferrante, a third-year bioengineering and biochemistry combined major. “I thought that they were funny the entire time.”

The first act ends with the flower dance, where Alice is surrounded by dancing peonies, marigolds, tulips and butterflies. It was an incredible end to the first act, with a flurry of dancers on stage moving to an elaborate soundtrack.

“I think my favorite part was the flowers,” said Sedi Gharakhanian, a second-year biology major. “It was very, very nice. I loved their costumes. I thought they told the story in a new way, but it was still true to the [original] story. It was beautiful.”

After a 15-minute intermission, the ballet’s second act began with Alice finding herself at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. The whimsy of the Mad Hatter and Alice’s attempts to join in on their party prompted chuckles from the audience, and the elaborate choreography had the audience in awe.

“I really liked the Mad Hatter tea party dance. I thought that it was really good, like the chair lineup was just so in sync,” said Rennie Parker, a third-year environmental engineering major. “A lot of work went into it for sure. It was beautiful; everybody danced wonderfully. You could tell how happy everybody was when they were dancing, and I loved that.”

Alice is then led to the palace of the Queen of Hearts, one of the funniest characters in the play. The Queen and the Jacks do a hilarious number where the Queen displays her obsession with tarts, causing the crowd to laugh.

“I feel like this one is a bit more acting heavy,” said Shania Rimpel, a fourth-year biology major and Noreste dancer. “It kind of leans on a bit more comedy, which has been really fun to see everybody do and to act in myself, since that’s not something that I really do.”

One of the Queen of Hearts’ servants, the Knave of Hearts, gets sick of serving the Queen and steals her beloved tarts. After stealing them, the Knave bumps into Alice; though they are wary of each other at first, they bond and share an elegant dance together.

Once the Queen of Hearts finds out about her missing tarts, she sends her entire army to capture the Knave. This results in an entertaining chasing sequence between Alice, the Knave, the Queen and her army as they run circles around the stage. When the Queen eventually captures the Knave, she sets the Knave for execution. Alice makes a deal with the Queen to spare the Knave’s life under the condition that she bests the Queen in a croquet game. 

Though the croquet sequence appeared simple, it actually showcased impressive coordination. The card dancers lined up in a row to form a pathway for the “ball” to go through and collapsed gracefully whenever it was Alice’s turn, due to it being rigged in the Queen’s favor. 

“I absolutely loved the croquet scene when they all flopped down and they were moving,” said Zoleigh Borg, a third-year human services major. “I just thought that visual was really fantastic. I very rarely get to come see dance performances, so it’s really cool to see a story told through movement instead of words.”

As Alice and the Knave are encircled by the Queen and her army, the King of Hearts knocks into a Jack and topples over all of the cards, accidentally pushing the Queen onto the executioner’s axe and killing her. While the cards figure out what to do, Alice and the Knave say their final goodbyes before Alice once again falls into the rabbit hole.

In the final scene of the ballet, Alice — now back at home — sees the Flirt from the garden party, and they leave the stage holding hands.

In the final curtain call, Coreas took the time to deliver thanks to the audience and everyone involved in the ballet, giving well-wishes and vibrant bouquets to the graduating members. The applause and cheers from the audience filled up Blackman Auditorium.

“I thought it was so impressive and all looked so cohesive,” said Victoria Maslova, a fourth-year behavioral neuroscience major. “The costumes matched so well and were minimalistic but still absolutely beautiful. The caterpillar dance and the costumes were some of my favorites, as well as the cards with the white tutus and the red. It all flowed so well and was really well put together.”

For the performers, showcasing their hard work was immensely gratifying. Many appreciated the uniqueness of “Alice in Wonderland,” which was different from previous ballets they have performed.

“I think it was really fun to get to do acting in ballet, like learning how to do pantomime and stuff — that’s something that I hadn’t really done before,” Gatzke said.

Others felt like their participation in the ballet allowed them to reconnect with their love for ballet, tying into Noreste’s original objective. 

“It honestly felt really good — it was really fun,” said Sara Stanley-Brizuela, a third-year linguistics and communication studies combined major and Noreste dancer. “I haven’t done a full ballet like this in a while, so it felt really nice to get back to it.”

The friendly environment Noreste provides was brought up repeatedly by its dancers, who described their time in the company as nothing less than wonderful.

“It’s my first and last performance,” said Julia Tushla, a fourth-year behavioral neuroscience major and Noreste dancer. “I have no dance experience, but everyone was welcomed with open arms, which was really special for my last semester.”