Dracula!

18 vampire brides! You gotta admit, Drac has a way with women. And Ballet West's Dracula is all you could wish for: tall, dark, formidable, and bloodthirsty. In the first act, he stalks about desperate for a drink, but his fanatically devoted mistresses are empty husks of their former selves. Unable to slake his thirst, Dracula sends his minion Renfield to the pastoral village at the foot of the mountains.






















But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm a huge devotee of the ballet, Halloween, and gothic Victorian mystery. So when I heard Ballet West was bringing Dracula to the stage, I geeked out in the way only a balletomane can, by pirouetting across the room.

After I picked myself up off the floor, I contacted Ballet West's PR department, and commenced begging. They very considerately let me sit in on a dress rehearsal. I even got to walk up on the stage and galk at the massive sets, and they are impressive.

















The first act takes place outside Dracula's castle and consists of a series of dances and impressive moves from Dracula and his brides--some of whom fly. This ballet, by Ben Stevenson, debuted in 1997, but it hearkens back to the classic ballets like Coppelia and Giselle. The story just provides backdrop for the dancing. The first act reminds me of another classic Les Sylphide in which the stage is filled with ghostly ballerinas. The first act culminates with Dracula feasting on the latest offering brought to him by Renfield. Once he's satisfied, he leaves the remains for his brides to finish off while he sets off for the village below.












The second act opens in the village below. It's a time of celebration for Svetlana who is turning 18. The village celebration is dampened slightly by an old woman who has a premonition of somthing evil. Svetlana's beau Frederick proposes, and Svetlana joyfully accepts, but not before she 1) dances around a lot; and 2) makes Frederick ask her father for her hand in marriage. This provides one of the lighter moments in the ballet.






















Just when a happy ending seems assured, thunder and lightening break up the scene and Dracula's carriage sweeps on stage. This does not bode well for the newly betrothed couple.

You'll have to see the third act for yourself. One of the highlights for me was Renfield's solo number. His frenzied movements made me believe he could give the Orkin man a run for his money.

Costuming, music, choreography: beautiful. While I've seen it close-up in rehearsal, I can't wait to see it again in performance.

Dracula runs through November 1st with matinees on Saturdays at 2:00 p.m.
Audiences are encouraged to come in costume!

Thriller!

Thriller!
Odyssey Dance Theatre
Playing all through October
Click here for showtimes, tickets and venues

Have you ever watched a well-trained formation line of Irish folk dancers--feet flying, smiles rigidly affixed--and thought, 'I bet a graduate of the U.S. Army sniper school could pick those dancers off, one by one.' Derryl Yeager, founder and artistic director of Odyssey Dance Theatre, has.

It's that warped sense of humor paired with some serious dancing that has made Thriller a Halloween season sensation across Utah for the past 13 years. Odyssey Dance Theatre's Thriller is a series of dance performances featuring Frankenstein, zombies, mummies, some seriously funky scarecrows and a crew of chain-saw wielding, blood thirsty Jasons. This dance company goes through sugar plum fairies like Spinal Tap goes through drummers.

This concert is so popular that it is playing in St. George, Park City, Provo and Salt Lake simultaneously. "For the fourth year in a row, we've had to hire two separate casts to fill the amazing demand," says Derryl Yeager. Yeager is an accomplished dancer and actor. You might recognize him as someone who has had some experience with...well, let's call it 'the dark side,' but don't hold it against him. He's also played the apostle Peter on film.

You don't have to be a dance fanatic (like myself) to enjoy this show. I saw Thriller on its opening night at the Provo venue, and the audience nearly brought down the house. The dance numbers are interspersed with comedy sketches and short films which give the dancers time to change in between numbers.

Fans of So You Think You Can Dance may recognize Matt Dorame and Brandon Bryant in the Thriller cast. My favorite dance of the evening was a grisly pas de deux between Matt Dorame's Frankenstein and his bride. The comedic, jerky movements may look easy, but you've got to be a pro to make them look right, and these two are amazing. When Matt hoisted his stiff-as-a-board spouse over his head, grasping only her neck and one leg, the audience burst into applause.

Thriller is a great performance for teenagers and adults, but I'd think twice before bringing kids under 10. There are knife wielding doll dancers and pack of "lost boys" that stalk, bring down, and feast upon an unsuspecting victim. The dancers are committed actors, and between the rolling fog, vampiric hisses and occasional blood spatters, it's a pretty chilling number.

Vastly more entertaining than a haunted house, I highly recommend this concert for teenage and adult thrill seekers. Performances sell out, so call the ticket office a day or two in advance of the show you'd like to see. For tickets prices and performance times and locations, click the link at the top of this blog post.

Thriller press release