Ballet Victoria is bringing its production of Bram Stoker’s famous vampire story to Max Cameron Theatre.
The company is starting its 10th year and has had a reputation for exploring new territory through adapting well-known stories and using popular music mixed with classical and a range of choreographies in its productions.
The company’s artistic director Paul Destrooper said he had taken Stokers’ Dracula and adapted it, intensifying the dark tale’s enthralling sensuality.
The story starts out with a prologue to the novel and explains the dark Count’s rejection of God and embrace of evil. Then the story follows how Lucy Westenra, played by Andrea Bayne, is drawn to the Count (Matthew Cluff).
“She gets bitten and turned into a vampire,” said Destrooper. “And of course her suitor Arthur brings in Doctor Van Helsing to try to help her.”
Van Helsing is played by Destrooper.
Dracula meets Jonathan Harker (Eric Hall) and Mina Murray (Nakano Yoshimura) and is troubled by Mina’s close resemblance to the love of his life, which ultimately leads to his undoing.
“He recognizes that there is something as pure as he originally felt and that took him to the dark side,” he said. “Instead of destroying it he lets it live on.”
The production’s music and dance starts out more classical with Elgar and Pärt, but quickly flips “into something a little more crazy like Chandelier by Sia,” said Destrooper. When he heard the song and saw its video, he knew that it would work because it is about a woman who is starting to get lost in her addictions. The production also mixes in tracks from Tyler Bates’ Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, as well as Beethoven and Bizet.
“It sounds like a completely eclectic mix that’s not going to work, but it actually does,” he said.
He added that the audience can also expect some humorous moments throughout.
“The dancing is really what this show is about,” he said, explaining that the company is small and only uses minimal sets to aid in the telling of stories. He said its production can be austere, but the costumes, lighting and dance connect with the audience.
The production opened in Port Angeles in Washington State on October 18 and the company has performed in Victoria and North Vancouver before coming to Powell River’s Max Cameron Theatre on Tuesday, November 18. The show starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets for adults are $28, seniors $26, youth $12 and children under 10 $5. Tickets are available at Breakwater Books and Fudge and Powell River Academy of Music.
