Nevada Ballet Theatre to perform ‘Dracula’ before Halloween
Just in time for Halloween, Nevada Ballet Theatre is reviving Dracula.
Bram Stoker’s vampire will saunter out of the shadows and into The Smith Center’s spotlight for four nights preceding Halloween.
Set to eerie music and amid rich, immersive sets and costumes, the haunting world of Dracula takes on new life in Nevada Ballet Theatre’s first production of the iconic tale.
For company artist Steven Goforth, portraying the vampire is a welcome challenge.
“It’s intense,” Goforth said before an afternoon rehearsal last week. “It’s balancing his nobility with who he is with his brides and the side of him that’s a vampire. There are a lot of choices to make.”
With a score by Franz Liszt, the curtain rises to Dracula looming over the audience. Goforth moves with intensity and restraint, instantly transforming his velvet cape into an immense pair of wings before soaring across the stage.
“It’s different working with a costume piece like that,” Goforth said. “I’m not just wearing a cape and running around the stage. It’s having it be a part of the character. He becomes a bat and is flying.”
Dracula’s 20 brides lifelessly swell to the middle of the stage, then snap into neatly organized rows. Their movements follow even the mildest of Dracula’s suggestions.
With every turn of Dracula’s head, an extension of his pinkie or the taunting spin of a finger, ballerinas leap and twirl around him.
The first act closes with the introduction of Dracula’s newest conquest, a village girl named Flora.
As Flora, portrayed by Alissa Dale, rushes to escape, the brides drive her back toward the vampire.
“Enjoy this, girls!” calls out repetiteur Dominic Walsh as two brides grip Flora’s arms and force her into Dracula’s clutches.
For five weeks, Walsh has been teaching NBT dancers Ben Stevenson’s 1997 choreography. “It’s a masterful first act in that you get such an eerie sense of Dracula and his world.”
Stevenson, the choreographer behind the ballet production of “Cinderella,” marries the classicism structure of ballet with the popular story of the Transylvanian count.
“It has a clear narrative with this musical-theater quality,” Walsh said. “The whole production flies by.”
Goforth’s preparation for the role extended far outside the rehearsal space.
“There are a lot of vampire movies on Netflix,” he joked.
While it’s Goforth’s first run as the count, he previously understudied in Ballet West company’s production in Salt Lake City.
In his seven seasons with NBT, he’s learned to draw influences from previous roles. “Working with Cynthia Gregory in ‘Swan Lake’ and being Prince Siegfried helped inform that nobility side that Dracula has,” Goforth said.
Dracula’s numerous leaps and lifts with his brides necessitated Goforth increase his cardio and strength training. The dancers’ movements are further complicated by weighty velvet costumes with intricate embroidery.
The costume and set design are aspects that Goforth said are likely to appeal to Las Vegas audiences.
“Liszt creates a powerful score. And yes, there are pointe shoes. But the character is relatable. This is a story everyone knows.”
“It’s a bulletproof production,” Walsh added. “Anyone with even half a soul would love it.”
If you go
■ What: Nevada Ballet Theatre’s “Dracula”
■ When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Oct. 28
■ Where: Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park Ave.
■ Tickets: $29-$139; 702-243-2623 or thesmithcenter.com
Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3835. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.
