Short Review: Dracula

[jennaria]

So Wife and I went to the ballet this month, to see DRACULA.

Expectations: Gothic! Pretty music! A different take on the novel!

What I got: ...well, two out of three isn't bad, even if the score is cobbled together from an arrangement of several pieces by Franz Liszt, rather than a single composition. Arguably three out of three, if you're willing to accept 'glanced through the novel, picked out of a couple of names and one setting, discarded the rest' as a different take! (And here's a trailer for, if not the actual ballet we saw, at least the actual version of DRACULA - or if you want a behind-the-scenes on the original version, Playbill has you covered.)

In all seriousness, the first act featured the corps de ballet being Dracula's (possibly ghostly?) wives, while Dracula swanned around with the most amazing velvet bat-cloak I've ever seen. Also there were aerials, which absolutely fits the ambiance and the theme, and I'm sure the dancer (dancers, plural, possibly) who were playing Dracula were having a lot of fun looming over everything, up in the air. Also a peasant girl, who gets picked up (by Renfield, who drives a gloriously Goth coach), seduced (by Dracula, not Renfield), and turned into a vampire, so we have proof that Dracula does more than just loom beautifully.

Second act: A Village Square, featuring an Innkeeper (who would like to think he's still young and strong), his Wife (who does not believe him), and his Daughter (who is, of course, the Most Beautiful Girl In Town). Also Daughter's Boy, who is enjoying the courtship but is not quite ready for marriage, even to the Most Beautiful Girl In Town. (Props to all the dancers involved here, who were not the top-tier A-listers of the company - we saw a matinee - but who managed to make me care about what are absolutely stock characters.)

We're just getting all that settled when Formerly Peasant Girl Now Vampire appears and tries to bite people. (Is it now after sunset? Unclear!) She manages (with the help of Renfield and that coach of his) to kidnap Most Beautiful Girl In Town. Props to Renfield for remembering to remove the garlic necklace, as that also didn't require Most Beautiful Girl In Town to pick up the Idiot Ball, which is not a thing guaranteed in ballet plots.

(Minor tangent: Most Beautiful Girl In Town was danced by a Japanese dancer at our matinee. I was ecstatic that it wasn't yet another blonde.)

Third Act: Formerly Peasant Girl is now Vampire Queen? At least she's getting the cool solos, she's wearing a crown, and even without the crown she's easily recognizable because she is the sole person in a Wafting Ghost costume that doesn't have blond hair. Also the corps de ballet were rocking the ghostly vibe, and some of them got to try out this cool aerial thing.

Erm. Anyway. Dracula attempts to seduce Most Beautiful Girl, but does not succeed: she keeps breaking out of it at the last minute. At last he's like, fine, I'll leave you to my girls to work over for a bit. Cue the entrance of Boy, Boy's Friend, and Priest, who are Here To Rescue Most Beautiful Girl (because of course they are). Priest is only sorta of help, as Renfield takes advantage of not being a vampire to grab the crucifix and play keep-away. Naturally, they finally win, and Boy leaves with Most Beautiful Girl in the light of the rising sun, while Renfield storms around very upset because it's hard to get hench jobs, you guys, you don't understand.

Overall: the plot is silly, but let's face it, how often do you go to the ballet for the plot? The dancing and the aesthetics were both on point (no pun intended). A very enjoyable afternoon. Now if I could only find the pattern for that cloak of Dracula's.

Comments

[rebeccama]

I am glad that you enjoyed. I don't think I have seen a ballet since I was a kid.

[jennaria]

I took ballet when I was small, so I have a soft spot for dance regardless - but it's also true that if Wife didn't also have a soft spot for ballet, then I probably wouldn't go looking for performances. (And also that it's a lot easier to spot advertisements for Yet Another Performance Of The Nutcracker, come winter season, than it is to see ads for other ballets.)