Vampire ballet OK for families

Don't look for strict adherence to Bram Stoker's gothic novel in the International Ballet Theatre's "Dracula," finishing its run at 7:30 p.m. today and Wednesday at the Meydenbauer Theatre in Bellevue.

The company's student and professional dancers put the story on stage with colorful Romanian folk dances, even some tap and clogging. Along with ballet, it makes a heady caldron of images, danced in lavish costumes and set to recorded music that includes original work and classical pieces such as Gounod's "Faust." Astor Piazzolla's swoony tango music is in there, and a piece by a lesser-known Russian composer, Georgy Sviridov, called "Snow-Storm," based on short story by Alexander Pushkin.

Company founder Vera Altunina, who wrote the story line for this "Dracula," teased out images from Stoker's novel and other works by the author, creating the classical and character dances with two collaborators: Jerry Tassin did the jazz and tap choreography, and Eva Stone did the modern works.

The stage picture is inventive and often fascinatingly surreal, though at times divertissements (such as Irish clog dancing) steal attention from the plot. Small revolving strobes at the edge of the stage also flash into the audience regularly, proving a distraction.

Projections take the audience from the ordinary world of a bucolic village in Transylvania to the night world of the undead, complete with a gothic graveyard and castle.

"Dracula" is the season opener for the company, which continues its year with "The Nutcracker" in December. Both have become annual traditions.

"As 'The Nutcracker' is to Christmas, 'Dracula' is to Halloween," said Heidi Tucker, president of IBT's board of directors. The Kirkland-based company in its seventh season of producing ballet repertoire in the Russian tradition, and their "Dracula" is in its fourth year.

Altunina came to America in 1993 to set dances on a Portland company, eventually settling on the Eastside. She taught at Cornish College, the Washington Academy of Performing Arts and Olympic Ballet, among other schools, before establishing her own school and company. There are now 200 students at the school, and graduates from the school's professional division go on to dance in company productions. Because there is so much intergenerational support for IBT, and so many young dancers in the show, "Dracula" is considered appropriate for family audiences.

A cast of 40 dancers performs the two-act ballet, with soloist Oleg Gorboulev as Jonathan Harker. Gorboulev, a standout in the show, particularly with his ebullient leaps and lifts, was formerly with the Moscow Classical Ballet and retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet last year.

Mina, Jonathan's fiancée, is danced by Sophie Edwards, a company soloist with IBT for the past five years. Lucy, Mina's best friend, is danced by Hayley Fridenstine, another company soloist. Her Lucy is another standout performance, a genuine eccentric with a strange push-pull relationship with Dracula, who is seen as a shadowy character wreathed in fog and smoke. Magic man Vaclav plays the role with elusive menace — and more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Dracula" is a bit of a departure from the Russian classical tradition, with a wide variety of dancing styles and skills on stage, but Altunina says her version is "more surrealistic than scary."

"It's always a journey. You never know where you'll depart," Altunina said. "I'm always looking for something creative and exciting."

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com