Ballet Ensemble of Texas announces ballet with a bite

Coppell—Ballet Ensemble of Texas (BET) will combine toes shoes and teeth marks this October to celebrate Halloween. The company will present ‘DRACULA, ballet with a bite,’ at the Irving Arts Center on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.

The story follows Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 Film which is based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. The story chronicles the life of Vlad the Impaler, a 15th-century soldier, so upset after his wife’s death that he becomes a vampire, Count Dracula, so he can live long enough to find her reincarnation.

The ballet is heavily infused with the humor of artistic director, Thom Clower, and features unique twists to the traditional story. Although some moments in the production could be considered “scary,” they are all presented in good fun.

“This is dance theater. It’s exciting, it’s tantalizing, and it’s dancey,” Clower said. “It is not supposed to be taken seriously; it is supposed to be fun. We have a great time performing it, and hope that people that come will as well.”

There are a number of special events related to the performance. The first one is “The Vein Drain,” a blood drive in collaboration with the Carter Blood Center. The event will be held Oct. 7, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Ballet Academy of Texas studios, home of BET. Carter Blood Center will be sending its “blood bus” out, and there will be a visit from Count Dracula himself. To sign up for the blood drive, visit balletensembleoftexas.org. BET is happy to be able to support the community in this way as they are preparing for their performance.

At 5 p.m. the day of the performance, there will be “Drinks with Dracula,” featuring blood-red drinks. Audience members are encouraged to wear a costume to the performance, which is the “Fiendish Frock Fashion Fantasy.”