By GUILHERME MELETTI YAZBEK
Last night was Halloween, and arriving at the opulent Benedum Center was an experience in itself. Zombies, witches, and all manner of creatures roamed freely through downtown streets on their way to parties and bars. Inside the beautiful theater’s foyer, nearly 3,000 people filled the space, dressed in gowns, suits, ties, and elegant coats. What I didn’t realize was that this arrival was already setting the tone and aesthetic for what I was about to witness: the encounter between an elegant aesthetic of flowing skirts, voluminous sleeves, and ruffles, and the terrifying, sensual aesthetic of Dracula—undoubtedly one of the most emblematic figures in Western horror culture.
Dracula premiered in 1996, directed and choreographed by Michael Pink, who has been the Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Ballet since 2002. The staging for this Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre production is credited to Denis Malinkine, with rehearsals directed by Steven Annegarn and Barbara Bears. The sets and costumes are courtesy of the Milwaukee Ballet, thus guaranteeing the original aesthetic envisioned by Pink. The ballet is divided into three acts and, in my view, has one main objective: to narrate the 1897 story by Irish author Bram Stoker clearly. It is not the purpose of this review to establish a comparison between the original novel and this version of the world’s most famous vampire. Rather, I would like to highlight the sensuality imprinted not only on the figure of Dracula—portrayed on opening night by Colin McCaslin—but on the production as a whole.
Unlike the Count Dracula of the original novel—an old man with foul breath and an unpleasant appearance—Pink’s proposal follows the line of many adaptations, presenting a slender Dracula with a youthful appearance and dangerous sensuality. This becomes even more vibrant when the character enters with an enormous, smooth, red velvet cape—which, incidentally, closely resembles the Benedum Center’s own proscenium curtain, creating a symbiotic effect between the show and the space. The cape’s shine, volume, and movement, combined with McCaslin’s precise and confident performance, help characterize a Dracula who is both attractive and seductive.
This libidinous tone permeates the choreography, filled with sinuous movements and close proximity between the dancers’ bodies. I want to draw attention to the beautiful duet between Dracula and the male lead of the central couple, Harker, interpreted with great drama and expressiveness by David O’Matz, who was promoted to soloist in 2025. Bravo! This duet, set in Dracula’s Transylvanian castle, lends a homoerotic nuance to the narrative—an especially powerful interpretive choice by Pink. The symbolic struggle between good and evil in Stoker’s Gothic novel can be read in ways that complicate its interpretation, whether in relation to Victorian society or the present day. Dracula symbolizes the “other”, that which is strange and unfamiliar. Regarding sexuality, he simultaneously attracts and repulses. He embodies pleasure associated with danger—the blood boiling within the human body that pulses in search of desire.
As I’ve said, this production of Dracula seems to prioritize the performance of the plot. To this end, both the principal characters and ensemble numbers are highly narrative, with dance based on gestures sometimes close to the everyday, combined with a classical ballet vocabulary (though not restricted to it). The ensemble scenes bring the full power of classical ballet to the stage. Yet, they also offer surprise—small comic moments that weave through the main story. Kudos to the members of the corps who enliven the antics in the opening scene of the second act, the “Tea Dance in the Grand Hotel”.
Regarding the show’s visuality and materiality, the beautiful costumes and sets (by Lez Brotherston) feature an expressionist touch—as seen in the distorted shapes of some furniture—combined with a bold and effective lighting design that amplifies the theatricality of Pink’s narrative vision. It seems important to highlight the courage of lighting designer David Grill, who allows some scenes to be quite dark, such as the duet between Dracula and Lucy (Tommie Lin Kesten) in Act II. This scene not only creates a well-constructed atmosphere but also employs a striking choreographic strategy: while the corps de ballet moves at a slow tempo, the duet unfolds at a faster pace. It’s a beautiful and effective theatrical solution that evokes a sense of spatiotemporal disorientation, ensuring we understand that no one notices Dracula’s erotic presence as he lures Lucy.
The production tells a story that is a pleasure to follow and sustains the audience’s attention through its choreographic quality, visual richness, and a few well-timed special effects that, together with Philip Feeney’s score, conjure atmospheres of fear and fantasy. The choreography itself, I reiterate, is gorgeous. Pink draws from the vocabulary of classical ballet but also dares to make ample use of the floor—something almost absent in the classical aesthetic, which tends to defy gravity—and creates highly expressive duets.
Still, I found myself eager to see the talented Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancers tackle movements of greater technical difficulty—say, the beloved fouettés (to name one movement that usually thrills an audience). It seemed this craving for virtuosity wasn’t mine alone: the audience broke into applause when one dancer executed a few tours à la seconde. Perhaps it’s a habit of ours, as spectators, to long for the most demanding, breathtaking movements. But Michael Pink’s Dracula, in my view, is not about showcasing the dancers’ virtuosity; it is about telling a story with emotion and narrative power. And in that, the PBT delivers—and how.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presents Dracula at the Benedum Center, with remaining performances on Saturday, November 1, at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 2pm. Tickets available at https://pbt.culturaldistrict.org/production/99091/list_performances
Guilherme is a Brazilian theater practitioner and scholar, currently pursuing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
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