Four Inane Questions with Kansas City Ballet’s Naomi Tanioka

Photo Courtesy of Kansas City Ballet

Kansas City Ballet’s newest stage spectacular is a modern reimagining of a beloved classic—Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland). If you’ve seen the ornate billboards around town promoting the performance, you get a sense of how visually stunning the show looks.

The performance—opening Oct. 11 at Muriel Kauffman Theatre—promises to be an immersive experience for all ages, complete with some eye-popping costumes and mind-blowing choreography. 

The titular Alice is played by dancer Naomi Tanioka, who will take theatergoers along on her surreal journey. Tanioka—who hails from Sapporo, Japan—has been part of Kansas City Ballet’s elite troupe of performers since 2019. Throughout her career, she’s also been a member of Ballet Arizona and Cincinnati Ballet.

If Tanioka looks familiar, it’s because she’s held court in a number of major roles over the years—including Cinderella in Devon Carney’s Cinderella, Wendy in Devon Carney’s Peter Pan, and Nellie in Val Caniparoli’s Jekyll & Hyde. 

We caught up with Tanioka in between chasing rabbits to inundate her with our asinine questionnaire. And we most definitely did not try on her Alice wig while we were backstage. Nope. Absolutely not. Bless.

The Pitch: You’re cooking for yourself. What’s your favorite dish to make?

Photo Courtesy of Kansas City Ballet

Naomi Tanioka: Now that the weather is cooling down a bit, warm split pea soup with some homemade bread sounds like the perfect meal! I love making my split pea soup in my instant pot, where I just put the ingredients in all at once and have it do the magic. It’s very nutrient-dense with all the vegetables and spices like ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and garlic, which makes it a great recovery food for athletes like me. I usually make a big batch of it so I can have it throughout the week. 

Admit it—What’s your worst bad habit?

It’s using the GPS to go everywhere. I am horrible with directions, and I struggle getting anywhere without the help of online navigation. Since I keep relying on the GPS, I never challenge myself to learn the roads and directions I commonly use. My fiancé is always terrified that one day my phone will die while I’m out and I won’t be able to find my way back home. 

What’s your all-time favorite TV commercial?

There was this one Old Spice deodorant commercial years ago, where this really fit guy is walking, and saying so many random things, all while his clothes are changing. For example, he’s in the mountains, then in a kitchen, then out by the waterfall, and all of a sudden he shouts, “Swan dive!” and he floats from the top of the waterfall into a hot tub. 

Something about that commercial was very funny to me and I remember laughing every time it would come on tv. Saying ‘swan dive’ became a habit in our friend group for a while.

Photo Courtesy of Kansas City Ballet

In a haunted house, what character would you convincingly play?

I’m not confident to pull off any haunted house characters, but maybe the girl from The Ring  if I had to pick. The first time I saw The Ring was in Japan, and the girl was named Sadako. Sadako is an iconic horror character in Japan, and there are multiple movies featuring her. It’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of ghosts. Covering my face with hair would help me with getting into the scary character.