#Dracula ballet

[lauralot89]

The Dracula Ballets

And Where to Watch Them

Dracula by Michael Pink: Originally staged in 1997, this ballet's plot is the closest to the novel. Seward does not appear in this version, his role being merged with Van Helsing's. Notable for eeriely beautiful and sometimes brutal choreography, the Harker and Dracula pas de deux, Renfield dancing in a straitjacket, and Quincey dancing briefly with a rifle.

Watch it here.

Dracula by Krzysztof Pastor: This version of Dracula portrays Mina as the reincarnation of the count's late wife, similar to Bram Stoker's Dracula. That film's score is also used in this ballet. Quincey does not appear in this version. Notable for Renfield's haunting dances, one of which he somehow manages while tied to other patients, Dracula's creepy servants, the Dracula Jonathan Tango, and an onstage blood transfusion.

Watch it here.

Dracula: The Romantic Ballet by Ben Stevenson. This ballet is set entirely in Transylvania with a new cast of characters. Besides Dracula, the mortal leads are villagers Flora and Svetlana, and Svetlana's suitor Frederick. Notable because this ballet wants you to know that Dracula fucks: he not only has his ever present brides, but an entire harem to go along with them. He even has locals employed in bringing maidens to his castle. Also this Dracula has seemingly human servants who are fine with it all, I guess.

Watch it here.

Dracula by David Nixon. This ballet intends to portray Dracula as a more ambiguous, nuanced creature. As Nixon puts it, ‘All creatures need to be loved and the love that Dracula shares with Mina transcends the boundaries of good and evil.’ Quincey does not appear in this version. Notable for the creepiest Old Dracula ever seen in anything (with the fun nervous habit of biting himself when he's trying not to bite others), a Seward and Renfield dance, and vampire brides with Christina Aguilera in "Lady Marmalade" hairstyles.

Watch it here (ignore the title and video description, they are incorrect).

Kont Dracula by the Turkish State Opera and Ballet. This is a 2013 adaptation for which I can find no information or video. If you know of a recording of this performance, please comment.

[winter-wise]

The Dracula ballet shows the aftermath of Dracula's harm in such a clever way.

After he returns to England, Jonathan needs a cane to walk, and he can't dance. He clearly wants to dance with Mina, but he's too ill, and Van Helsing dances with her instead.

After being fed on by Dracula, Lucy tries to act like she's fine, and tries to dance with Arthur, but she quickly collapses, unable to dance.

Being fed on by Dracula means that the characters can't dance - they can't perform their expected behaviour with in the medium of ballet. It's a really clever way of showing the isolating effects of the trauma brought on by Dracula's abuse.

[aquitainequeen]

Dracula adaptation: Dracula is once again in love with Mina because she's the reincarnation of his lost love.

Me: Ehhhhhhhhhh.

Dracula adaptation: But!!! It's a ballet, so there's no cringey dialogue to ruin the emotions conveyed so expressively by facial expression, gesture and movement.

Dracula adaptation: Plus there are some unintentionally hilarious moments where Dracula switches between his old and young forms by dint of the dancers swapping in and out back to back, and the show depicting Dracula levitating a hypnotized Lucy via two dancers in nothing but grey body paint and very brief briefs carrying her around the stage.

Me: ...you have my interest and my attention.

[thesecretlamppost]

So the Polish Ballet dropped Dracula (the ballet obviously) on YouTube and sure there's a ton of discourse to be had around the costuming and them adapting the movie vs the book and I will definitely write an essay one day around the brilliance of Dracula and Jonathon Harker doing the tango... But I'm going to be honest here. They brought out other vampires during several of the scenes with Dracula's wives so they could do some, frankly, gorgeous partner work. And they dressed these men in ruffled collars with no sleeves and typical ballet pants and all I could think was "if those are Dracula's wives, these are definitely his husbands"

[scattered-stardust]

things i haven't seen anyone mention about the Polish dracula ballet that really should have been mentioned:

Dracula's boytoys. and you may ask "what?" why yes his boytoys. recognizable by either being naked or having sleeves. they proceed all his entrances, it's amazing

The brides' boytoys. recognizable by having no sleeves.

Vampires are literally unaware of pants that are not skin tight before they come to Londen. No i am not making this up. this is canon in the ballet and i am obsessed with it.

Dracula wants to fuck Jonathan. this has been mentioned but like He really wants to! (okay he wants his blood but like we all know metaphors)

Perfect casting for Jonathan (in my opinion) He falls over in shock at least four times, and every time it's great!

It's also just really fucking good!!! please do yourself a favour and watch it, I promise you will not regret it!!

[strange-destinations]

some of my favorite bits from Michael Pink's Dracula ballet. because damn, that vampire sure can dance.

[ancientpersacom]

Astarion simps y’all are missing the opportunity to take poses from the Dracula ballet for art I mean look at this

No heterosexual explanation

[rodrickheffeley]

what I want to see happening to Lestat in season 3

[argyleheir]

DRACULA Wojciech Kilar / Krzysztof Pastor

[lady-dulcinea]

Count Dracula preys on Lucy while she's sick & alone

from the Milwaukee Ballet's production of Michael Pink's Dracula Luz San Miguel as Lucy Westenra Davit Hovhannisyan as Count Dracula

[caprisonnne]

I too, have seen that Dracula ballet from Poland

reference:

[lauralot89]

why didn't I know there was a Dracula ballet and ESPECIALLY why didn't I know it has this dance with Dracula and Jonathan

[chicago-geniza]

BRIEF NOTES ON DRACULA BALLET COSTUMES

At the beginning we see Mina dancing with Dracula in a sort of dream sequence; she's wearing an 18th-century gown with a pannier and an inverted conical flat-chested silhouette suggestive of boned stays; the fabric is, if not identical to, at least reminiscent in pattern and material to the pseudo-Boyar cloak we see Dracula wearing later. Costumes work a LOT with temporal pastiche in this ballet and it's very very cool--this touch reminded me of Queen Charlotte's court, how she kept court fashions tethered to the 18th-century styles of her youth well into the Regency era.

Speaking of temporal pastiche--extends to dance and costumes simultaneously. There's a ball before we meet the vampires, everyone is waltzing, the costumes are early/mid-19th c. "period drama," the dance is ballet and ballroom. Jonathan departs to Dracula's castle, and Dracula's retinue are dressed like a 70s glam vampsploitation interpretation of the 1830s--glitter, leather pants, ruffled poet/pirate shirts, the works. Clash of "period-accurate" Jonathan and genre fiction vampires. BUT!!!!!!! As Jonathan is seduced by his surroundings, a BLACK NECKTIE is added haphazardly over his cravat--these didn't become part of men's formalwear until after WWI. It's the only black detail on his costume--black signifies vampirism--and it's a motif of encroaching modernity as threat. MOREOVER, the dance with Jonathan, Dracula, and the brides incorporates elements of contemporary/modern dance for the first time.

THE BRIDES. Their costumes are very Swan Lake/Leda and the Swan, which is [chef's kiss] intertext-wise, and they shift back and forth from black to white depending on the scene. There are also three bridegrooms of Dracula. Bisexual representation

MORE LATER

Oh also when Mina is turned into a vampire and Jonathan finds her they have this dance sequence that is like an inverted mirror of their engagement dance at the ball and vampire!Mina brings movements from modern/contemporary dance into their "duet." They also dance beside each other, doing mirror-motions, rather than dancing together as partners or doing any reciprocal choreography. They've both been transformed by their encounters with Dracula in the way they inhabit their bodies and relate to one another

Dracula has a black wig when he dances with Mina and a blond wig when he dances with Lucy. He appears differently to each of them!!!!!!!!!!!

Not a costume note but this ballet REALLY leans into the homoeroticism between Lucy and Mina. They're figured as doppelgangers almost. Lucy's death scene was blocked in a way that made me wonder if this director watched puppet theater Dracula Lucy's Dream, because it was nearly "verbatim," except vampire!Mina stood in for Lucy's other self lurking in the shadows, then acting out a tug-of-war between Lucy's body and the vampire

[per1w1nkl3]

in honor of dracula daily I watched the dracula ballet (with the milwaukee company, by micheal pink) and let me tell you it's so good!!! imo it's pretty book accurate, with a few limitations ofc (but they do include jonathan's queer dreams that may or may not be caused by the paprika)

anyway here are a few pictures

and here's the link:

i have a few thoughts but I'm hiding them under the tag in case anyone might want to watch it and go in completely blind. either way do yourselves a favor and go watch it!

i love the cool blue light for the vampires. I think I usually associate them with red so the blue was a nice change

love the brides. love how they usually are en pointe vs most other characters usually aren't. love their clothes

i like all the costumes actually

obsessed with dracula's entrance and him moving his arms like bat wings and just in general him acting very bat-like

LOVE dracula and jonathan's pas de deux. if I could I'd draw them i would.

actually the first act as a whole is so so good

the fact that jonathan walks with a cane is very cool. it would've been so easy to undermine his trauma a little, especially with the fact that it's a ballet. but no, dracula really does look scary and threatening. i just wished they kept it for a little longer.

jonathan being the first to see dracula is also great

the fact that lucy goes en point the moment she sees dracula hdhdhhdh

and tries to play it off like nothing happened :((

van helsing, seward (or is it quincey? he looks a little texan lmao) and arthur dancing over minas deathbed :(((

hello renfield!!

hello renfield dancing with his hands tied!!!!

it was quincey morris omg hii

mina and dracula pas de deux!! everytime the count is on stage is just so cool to watch

are those the people dracula killed?? idk but I love them

the fight. are you kidding me.

[thegoatsongs]

The first 5 minutes of the Pink ballet Dracula

It features Jonathan Harker (during his brain fever era) having one of his nightmares. It evolves into him dreaming of his wedding with Mina.

There are "future visions" in Jonathan's nightmare wedding segment. Jonathan's fears manifest (e.g Jonathan being pushed away by Mina back to the Three Sisters) and some are representative of Mina later becoming a vampire (e.g the coffin scenes). At the very end, there's a very brief wedding consummation scene, but no nudity.

[maceboyblues]

Feeling very normal about that Polish Dracula ballet