FOLLOWING his residency with Cape Town City Ballet last year, Jerome Barnes has returned to the Mother City to dance the lead role in David Nixon’s adaptation of Dracula, at Artscape from 13 to 29 March. We caught up with Jerome to find out what he’s been up to since then, and his insights into this dazzling ballet.
“After dancing Swan Lake I did a tour of Spain, where I danced Romeo in Romeo And Juliet. I went up and down all through Spain so got to see beautiful cities,” he says. He also did Great Gatsby, with Ukrainian Classical Ballet and Worldwide Ballet Theatre.
South African audiences are fed a staple diet of classical ballets – Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppelia and the like – so a production like Dracula is very exciting and different. “It fits into the contemporary sort of area with neo classical and normal classical en pointe dance because it’s a very grounding and stabilising role,” explains Jerome. “I feel because as a vampire he’s not only just cold, he is the beast but also very grounded and very still at moments when he can’t show off his abilities. The role is slow in motion sometimes and you can’t always this see this beast that is hiding. When you do see his beast mode it’s in the bedroom scene.”
It’s clear Jerome puts a great deal of thought into the roles he dances, and strives to understand the character so as to perform in a way the audience will appreciate the nuances of personality, and in this case the duality of Count Dracula. There is a certain sympathy for a creature presented as a monster but who has another side too. “I feel I will bring is a sense of this emotion of being involved but yet detached from it all…being in two different worlds at once,” he says.
“I really want to bring this element and contrast to the character because ultimately he is in two worlds – he is a vampire but he’s going to the ball as handsome young man. I want to show these two elements of being Dracula but at the same time to bring that wild beast side and the craziness in the bedroom scene with Lucy.”
Jerome likens Dracula to the lion, a king, savage yes. But like lions have to fend off attacks by hyenas in the wild, so too must Dracula defend himself against the people who would hunt him down. He is also conflicted by his need to drink blood to survive but yet he cannot bring himself to feed on Mina. “I love the fact he shows this softer side of himself with Mina. He finds a sense of human nature and interconnection with her. This is very interesting and intriguing concept,” says Jerome.
Audiences can look forward to a “phenomenal” performance, he says, praising the massive castle set which is central to any narrative of the Dracula story. “But then the costumes come in and it takes you back to the English Victorian era and this contrast of being in a modern world with the vampire theme but yet traditional with this classy Victorian costumes…it’s wild and has this dark gothic feel with the black cape. I also think the lighting, the props, everything, have real story telling elements. There’s so much going on, there’s a cinematic feel to it.”
Looking ahead, Jerome says he hopes to give back to his craft which has served him so well, and to be a role model for those who look at him every day to be inspired. His dream is to hopefully be a director or maybe a teacher, he says. “I’ve always wanted my own school. This ballet career has given me so much I would like to pass on some of the knowledge I’ve gained along the way and to be strong and a leader for those who have seen my journey.”
Tickets from R180 to R450 through Webtickets and the Artscape box office on 021 421 7695. PG12. Learn about the story background for this ballet here.
