18 April 2026
Festival Theatre
Adelaide
Ballet
This was my first time seeing a ballet version of Dracula, and it was also my first trip to a live ballet in a few years. I knew the story well from the novel, films, plays and musicals. However, my companion for the performance had never read the book or seen any film versions and was coming to the story for the first time, and this did give us a different take on the ballet. In particular, the scenes with Renfield in the asylum were a bit puzzling to her, and I did think, too, that without understanding who he was, those moments didn't add anything to the story and could have been left out without affecting the main storytelling. In terms of the choreography, Act I was okay and had a few lovely moments, such as the pas de deux between Dracula and Jonathan, but it felt a little 'messy' at times, such as with the lack of synchronisation between members of the corps de ballet during the party scene. Act II was far more visually interesting, particularly with Lucy's transformation scenes and some lovely pas de deux moments between Dracula and Mina. I also really enjoyed the transitions between old and young Dracula, some of which were very cleverly effected. There were no standout, virtuoso solo moments for any of the dancers, but as an ensemble piece that didn't really matter. I appreciated the atmospheric music. Some of it felt very familiar, and it was only while reading the programme later that I realised this was because some of it was taken from the film score of the Coppola Bram Stoker's Dracula. The set worked well and the costumes were lovely too, especially for the vampire characters. The programme was exorbitantly priced for its size ($25 for 32 pages including the cover, several of the pages also being ads), but that always seems to always be the case here in Australia these days. I did think it was a shame that, for that much money, there were not many production photos and not even an indication of which dancers were playing which roles. Since I was sitting in the Grand Circle and could not see faces in great detail, I had to try to piece together who was who. Given the cost of the programme, even slipping in a loose sheet of paper with the cast list details would have been appreciated. So, overall, I would give this production 4.5 stars. There were one or two things that didn't quite work for me, but on the whole it was an evocative retelling of the story with some memorable moments and it is a ballet I could see myself watching again.
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