The Agoura Hills Performing Arts Education Center is a beautiful theater with excellent sight lines and an expansive depth. It has a high proscenium and wide stage which makes it perfect for full scale classical Ballet, as well as original ballets such as West Coast Ballet Company’s “Dracula”. Artistic Director Robbie Downey has collected a technically proficient cast in order to realize her retelling of the Dracula story. This was an entertaining and fully realized version which satisfied on all counts. There were also voice-over notifications at the beginning of the show and at intermission by Dracula himself which set an amusing tone for the evening.
Dracula, as portrayed by Eduard Sargsyan was entirely believable and relished his role of power and command over others. It was easy to see his past experience with such Titans of the Ballet world as Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev and Yuri Grigirovich in how he approached the physicality of the role. His first move was to leap off of a standing desk into a full split in seconde position and land cat-like, onto the ground! He has a few solos with a manége added and these do not disappoint. Sargsyan also does a great deal of complicated partnering with all of the female cast. He has one very intricate lift that develops in three different moves over and around his head! He tosses off men’s grand allegro and continues the next scene with aplomb. He displayed great acting skills in his blood lust and inner turmoil at wanting Mina but not wanting to hurt her. Mina and Lucy danced by Madeline McMillin and Leah McCall Noyer respectively were perfectly matched in their technique and acting. Their pointe work was very clean and precise. They both did an excellent job in the evolution of their characters from good, decent, young ladies to the blood hungry brides of Dracula.
West Coast Ballet ‘s “Dracula” – Eduard Sargsyan as Dracula – Photo by Hannah Cox.
The darkly Gothic chorus of the three Brides of Dracula portrayed by Hallie Rumsey, Carmen Callahan, and Mirell Sork were beautifully realized and brought to life, so to speak. They constituted a group for getting things done and were engaging while doing it. They each had a separate personality which read across the stage and helped to flush out Dracula’s purpose. They were matched for good by the three men in the story; Jonathan Harker played by Jacob Ray, Van Helsing played by Nick Sedano, and Dr. Seward played by Isaiah Sedano. These three showed great technique throughout and each had a chance to partner and act as well. I must say that Ray’s first step as Jonathan Harker was a double tour which set the tone for what was to come next. All three of the men executed brilliant jumps and pirouettes effortlessly. All of the partnering was done smoothly and without a hitch and a lot of it required serious focus. Some of the most fun partnering was these three men fighting with Renfield played by Natalie Palmgren. There was kicking and screaming and biting and tossing – all of which made for exciting theater. Palmgren did a fine job of crazy – eating insects and rats and all!
West Coast Ballet’s “Dracula” – Photo by Hannah Cox.
There was a Bride To Be character played by Zooey Kraemer who was just inaugurated into the deathless clan. She is turned at the beginning of the show and we see her transformation throughout the evening. She did an excellent job of terror and fear turned into hunger and thirst for blood by the end. She also has legs eight-feet long which goes a long way towards exaggerating the physicality of extension, especially with pointe shoes on. She was a joy to watch. Last, but not least was Ariana Gaydosh playing Mina’s friend and who ended up being eaten alive by the Brides of Dracula. She was the perfect innocent foil to illustrate the cold hunger and disregard of the Vampires. According to the program music for the evening was: Mozart, Verdi, Korbl, Wijers, Herter/Yellow Man Studio, Krux, Bode, Seemore Music/Coe/Anderson, Koivisto, Diaconu, Hirt, VanOosting, Giovannangelo, Burns, Latta.
West Coast Ballet’s “Dracula” – Photo by Hannah Cox.
Sets were by “V”. There were gorgeous backdrops painted by Grosh giving an overall feeling of mysterious dark dread to the production. And unfortunately, nowhere could I find who was responsible for the costumes. The costumes were fantastic and lent a great deal to the look and feel of the entire piece. They could move with all of the demanding choreography yet look period enough to be realistic and give credence to the storyline. Well done whoever did them.
And finally, a note to the Program creators – I know it takes money to produce. You have advertisements on the last page, so I assume that is taken care of. It needs much more clarity in terms of where the “Music by” and “Costumes by” is located. For a professional company less photos of the production and more pertinent information is required. For Example: The program lists Robbie Downey as Co-founder yet does not mention who the other Co-founder is or are. There is also no mention of who did the costumes. This is important information even the casual theater goer can appreciate.
For more information about West Coast Ballet, please visit their website.
Written by Brian Fretté for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: West Coast Ballet’s Dracula – Photo by Hannah Cox.
