Vampire tales have been done over and over, though audiences never seem to quench their insatiable bloodlust.
Opening Friday, “Dracula,” expresses the animalistic nature of vampires through contemporary dance, said Cheri Costales, director of Elite Dance Studio.
“Dracula is such a small character in the book. You always see the results of Dracula, but there are no details about what he did, and I love that kind of storytelling,” Costales said. “We don’t do that anymore. We show everything. I wanted people to watch a dark story, but there’s redemption in the storyline.”
Sammy Chumpolpakdee, a UNM student who plays Jonathan Harker, said the audience will be immersed in the performance.
“We actually come off stage and interact with the audience, so it’s basically a 360-degree show,” he said.
Costales said since “Dracula” is an oft-produced show, it’s hard to make it fresh, but the dance numbers add a dimension not yet explored by other versions.
“I think dance can add a feeling of surreal-ness,” she said. “This is a fantastic story, not something set in reality. I think the dancing adds that feel of something really out there and creates such an emotion that you can express in three or four minutes, and people won’t be bored with it.”
Kira Akmajian, a UNM student and dancer in the production, said people expecting “Twilight”-like vampires will probably be disappointed.
“The show is really creepy. I think we do a really good job of that,” she said. “It’s not like ‘Twilight’ where the vampires are really sexy — no, not at all. The vampires are scary, and you can see just how much it affects these normal people — that there’s this evil force trying to destroy London.”
To Costales, “Dracula” goes deeper than the supernatural to play out a storyline of redemption she sees frequently in literature.
“What I enjoyed about the book was the nobility and friendship,” she said. “It’s a lot like the story of ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ There’s a group of people who’ve been dealt a situation and are willing to sacrifice themselves for other people.”
To play up this storyline, Costales understated the violence, a subtlety that is more foreign to audiences of torture porn and hardcore gore, Chumpolpakdee said.
“It’s a PG-type show. She’s not aiming for the bloods and guts. She’s aiming for the powerful message of love and what you do for loved ones to kill evil,” he said.
The dance numbers bring a kind of life not only to the vampires in the story, but bats, gypsies, rats and the mentally ill. The choreographers researched bats and rats so dancers could incorporate genuine behavior into their movements.
Costales said she went to the same lengths for those playing the insane.
“When I taught this piece, I had a list of disorders so that we actually had a starting place,” she said. “It wasn’t just, ‘Walk around and be crazy.”
Chumpolpakdee said Costales’ productions are always cohesive and well-oiled.
“Ms. Cheri, she’s the mastermind,” he said. “This is all from her mind. It’s kind of crazy. It’s really weird how her mind works, but it somehow miraculously works out, and that takes a lot of talent.”
These productions are an opportunity for Elite Dance Studio students to get hands-on experience not only in their field of interest, but in all aspects of theater.
“We are just about performing arts, so we want that experience not just with dancing but with acting. We had everybody sewing costumes. When they had a break, they’d sew,” Costales said. “I always have kids that help me set up. All the boys know how to put a floor down. So they get that tech experience. We make sure they’re learning all those things.”
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