On this very night of October 27, a darkly enchanting ballet, Dracula, was performed in the Performing Arts Center by the Atlantic City Ballet. Out of the 24 stunning dancers, only 4 were from America. The talent was spectacular. The ballet was based off of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, written over 100 years ago. The story is deep, dark, enchanting, seductive, full of love, and full of hate.
When the story begins, Dracula rises from his coffin, surrounded by his three favorite wives. With the conspicuous, red outfit he wears, it is easy to discern who he is and his ties with blood. A young lawyer, Jonathan Harker, must go to Dracula’s castle in order to get some papers signed, and he heeds none of the warnings the peasants bombard him with. Dracula sees a picture of Mina, Jonathan’s fiancee, and he is incredibly attracted to her. He makes Jonathan his prisoner while he goes to England to search for Mina.
Mina is with her friend Lucy in England, and Lucy is trying to find a suitor. She finally does, but eventually, Dracula comes to shake things up. Both Lucy and Mina are entranced by Dracula, and when he finds out that Jonathon has escaped his castle and married Mina, Dracula is outraged. He drains Lucy of her blood and makes her a vampire instead. Her change into a vampire is obvious with the costume she wears of red and black.
Dr. Van Helsing helps Lucy’s fiancee and some of his friends stake her heart. Then they set out with Jonathon to find Dracula, but when they return to the jail where they left Mina, she is in Dracula’s embrace being fed upon. He escapes to his castle, and Mina gives Van Helsing and the others a map to find Dracula.
When they all arrive at Dracula’s castle, the wives lay in wait. They are all staked through the heart, and finally, Van Helsing rips Dracula form his coffin and ends his life as well. Mina is heartbroken and refuses to return to Jonathon. She realizes that she loved Dracula. Even more, she has become a vampire as well, for when the ballet ends, she retreats to Dracula’s former coffin and slams shut the lid, claiming it as her own.
The entire story contains no dialogue, only music and ballet. The dancers are skillful, each dancing gracefully despite the weight or malfunctions of their costumes. The changing colors of the lights really added to the tension and bloody fights of the play. The use of fog machines also added to the chilling, vampric feel of the entire story. This ballet was an incredible feat.
I had been looking forward to this ballet for over a month, and I was not disappointed! The dancers were phenomenal, and the music really brought the emotion alive that dialogue could not. The story of Dracula was retold in an entirely new way, and it caught me up in its enchanting embrace one again.