IT was fabulous the first around in March this year, and it’s just as fabulous —if not more so — now. David Nixon CBE’s acclaimed Dracula, presented by Cape Town City Ballet, is appropriately back at Artscape this spooky season for a short run until Sunday. If you’re looking for ballet with a bite, this is it right here.
“The ballet is a darkly theatrical collision of dance, music, design and gothic storytelling, an intoxicating invitation into a world where passion, danger and the macabre intertwine. Nixon’s choreography pushes the classical genre into more visceral territory, combining raw physicality, sensuality and intensity with the precision and grace of this exquisite art form.”
I looked back at my review from before and it’s hard to improve on it, if I say so myself. What I mean is, all the praise I had then is the praise I have today, and just as relevant, from the principal dancers we saw on opening night to the thrill of the story. Click on through to read what I said.
What I somehow left out, and I have no excuse, is I was also enormously impressed on both occasions by Luke Wragg as Renfield. This man is such a superb dancer, so agile, and appears to defy gravity. I’d love to see him in a larger role one day, so as to revel in his stage time. Being a bit of a ballet groupie, or fan girl, can be quite fun it seems.
It’s always a privilege to see any show more than once, as I believe it not only gives you deeper insight but an even greater appreciation. This time, I found myself musing at how Nixon’s choreography reveals an intense understanding of human anatomy and then tests the body’s limits. Will they bend that way? Let’s try it and see. The spoiler is yes, they can bend and move in extraordinary ways, while still remaining fluid and elegant. Muniz scuttles and creeps and glides across the stage, conveying the sense he is definitely not human, but yet he is capable of love. Lust? Definitely passion. These are not mutually exclusive. So yes, this is very sexy, and also very violent. Blood-free though; I have given my notes.
Dracula will be danced this season by Leusson Muniz (was he born for this role or what?), Zachary Healy and guest Oleksii Ishchenko from Ukraine. Hannah Ward dances Lucy, and Kirstél Paterson is Mina.
“Set to a stirring score and brought to life through minimalist staging, evocative lighting, period costumes and striking set design, every element draws audiences deeper into Dracula’s shadowy world. For those drawn to the mysterious and macabre, Dracula offers an enticing escape from the ordinary and an invitation to surrender to the dark side.”
I love the final moments, which left me gasping the first time. And even though I knew what was coming, it got me again (like Carrie’s hand at the end of the original 1976 movie, since we’re in a horror theme, IYKYK). Fantastic!
PHOTO CREDIT: Brenda Veldtman
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