This Month in BM History: June 2000
As indicated on the cover of the souvenir program, Ballet Manila performed Paul Vasterling’s Dracula in its Asian premiere. Souvenir program from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
In 2000, Ballet Manila staged a production it could really sink its teeth into. A deviation from the classical ballets it had become known for, the company brought in Paul Vasterling’s vampire-themed Dracula which was the Asian premiere of the American choreographer’s work.
Eduardo Espejo is Dracula, Jerome Espejo is Renfield and Sandralynn Huang is Lucy Westenra in Paul Vasterling’s Dracula, a ballet based on Bram Stoker’s Gothic thriller. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Though inspired by the Gothic thriller of the same title written by Bram Stoker and films based on the novel, Vasterling said he did not want a literal or linear storytelling. Thus what he did was to combine characters and events to illustrate Gothic qualities of exaggerated romanticism and atmosphere and Dracula’s internal struggles.
Ballet Manila artistic associate Lisa Macuja-Elizalde said in interviews then that they decided to mount Dracula because of its successful run in the US. Apart from sharing with the Filipino audience a different ballet experience, it was also meant to be a showcase for the company’s younger dancers in telling the immortal tale through dance.
A feature story published in BusinessWorld reports how Ballet Manila came to stage Dracula after its successful run in the US. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
The ballet opens with the initial encounter in Transylvania between Count Dracula and Jonathan Harker whom he intends to use to go to England. Dracula feels the presence of Mina Murray in Jonathan’s life and decides to go after her. Jonathan escapes and returns to England where Mina nurses him back to health. Dracula makes his way there and seduces Mina’s best friend Lucy Westenra. It is up to Jonathan and Mina to find Dracula and end his thirst for blood.
In a review, dance critic Marge C. Enriquez said that a strong narrative carried Dracula through. “The choreographer makes a tight, fast-paced work about an aristocrat-turned-vampire whose urge to victimize people is insatiable.”
She particularly commended the corps who “delivered the best performance in the show. These ‘creepy crawlies’ danced with no inhibitions at all.”
The 50-minute Dracula was preceded by another new work, the nature-themed Velvet Wings by Spanish choreographer David Campos Cantero.
In another publicity photo from 2000, Osias Barroso poses as Jonathan Harker while Melanie Motus is his fiancée Mina Murray who falls for the charms of Dracula. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
