Just in time for Halloween, the New Orleans Ballet Theater put on four productions of the gothic classic “Dracula” at the Orpheum Theater in Downtown New Orleans. Following the structure of the 1897 novel, the story centers on lawyer Johnathan Harker and his fiancée Mina in their experiences with Dracula, an ancient vampire who infiltrates their Victorian English world.   

Before the start of the show, the artistic director, Gregory Schramel, gave the audience the theater rules in a long cape and fake fangs and cracked some jokes about the Taylor Swift mania happening in New Orleans. The curtain then opened to a dark, misty stage across which the cast danced to set the scene. A nervous Johnathan Harker began his journey to Transylvania plagued by nightmares while Mina stayed in England with her free-spirited friend Lucy.

The original novel is written as Johnathan’s diary, so most of what we learn is through his internal monologue. Because of this, a lot of the production is seen from behind a sheer curtain that gives the scene a memory-like feeling. Tristan Hanson, who plays Johnathan, did a great job portraying the character’s emotions and his descent into madness. Lucy, played by Katherine Hanson, was also a beautifully expressive dancer, successfully making her plotline one of the easiest to understand.  

One of the show’s highlights was a scene where Lucy swept away a charming group of child dancers in her vampiric form. The children did a wonderful job in their short feature, adding a hint of comedy to the dark drama. Another ensemble was the haunting Brides of Dracula, or The Casket Girls, as they are listed in the playbill. Clad in white and wreaking havoc in both Transylvania and England, they easily entranced the audience as they did the characters.  

As with any good stage production, the costumes aid in telling the story. Lucy is dressed only in blood red, foreshadowing her tragic fate. Art, described in the playbill as “a bohemian,” wears a flouncy shirt with no jacket in stark contrast to the sharply dressed characters around him. And Dracula is the only one who wears black, a fitting choice for a character full of darkness.  

This ballet was not necessarily a traditional one. Monologues guide the story along, and modern music is included in the score. There were some aspects of modern dance as well, with some movements being more brash and jolting than traditional gracile ballet. In the playbill, the choreographer Oliver Halkowich notes his intentions to use this classic story as a mirror for a modern audience to examine themselves and their world. While it was interesting to see this attempt, the story was still not easily understandable to the general audience. At intermission, I overheard many people asking, “What’s happening?” and “Who is that character?” If I had not been familiar with the story already, I would also have had trouble following the plot. Ballet is a difficult medium for storytelling; however, I believe a good ballet should be easily understood by the audience with little prior knowledge of the story. People don’t buy tickets to a ballet to read about it; they buy tickets to watch it. For this reason, the visual storytelling itself is integral to a good production.  

Overall, the New Orleans Ballet Theater’s interpretation of “Dracula” was an enjoyable way to spend an evening. The non-traditional aspects tried to make the production more accessible, but prior knowledge of the story is almost a prerequisite to attending if you want to fully understand what’s going on. However, as a ballet lover, I was thrilled to experience a beautifully dramatic show and look forward to seeing what the New Orleans Ballet Theater has to offer in the future.