Roxey Ballet is a contemporary company based in the Lambertville-New Hope area. Roxey is in its twenty-sixth season and is the only central N.J. based contemporary ballet company that performs classics like Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella as well as a Halloween fanatic’s dream, Dracula.
Mauricio Vera stars as Dracula in Roxey Ballet’s production at Canal Studio Theater. Photo courtesy of Roxey Ballet.
The Mill Ballet School Pre-Professional Trainee Division opens its performance of Dracula with dolls ticking like the hands of a clock with strobe lights beaming down. After that, witches conquer the audience’s attention. The ballerinas exude spookiness with by wearing contact lenses, chilling the audience to the core.
The smoke-filled stage provides an eerie feeling, and then a red light reveals Dracula himself. Sinister energy seeps into the audience as the stage and the dancers are only a foot away from the edge of the seats.
Mark Roxey the Artistic Director and Founder of Roxey describes Dracula as a community staple for the Halloween-loving Lambertville. The dancers are “creating a haunted house experience” he says. There’s nothing else like some creepy dolls, witches and vampires to get you into the Halloween mood.
Unlike traditional ballets, Dracula takes ballet to a whole new level with the inclusion of special effects and elaborate acting. Including four new cast members adds fresh energy to the performance. Tuianna Balzhieva who stars as Lucy, says there is a lot of energy, especially since everyone in the company is young.
Caitlin McFadden from Doylestown, Pennsylvania who saw one of the first performances says Dracula “was very well done and animated. It was surprisingly not kid-like.”
One of the most challenging aspects of producing Dracula, according to Roxey, is that he is working on three to four other projects at the same time. Roxey Ballet is also known for its production of The Nutcracker with rehearsals already in full swing. The Nutcracker is held at The College Of New Jersey’s Kendall Main Stage Theater and will run from November 30 to December 8.
You can catch Dracula at Canal Studio Theater, 243 North Union Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530 until the end of the month. Remaining performance dates are: Friday Oct. 25 at 7pm, Saturday Oct. 26 at 4pm and 7pm, and Sunday Oct. 27 at 1pm and 4pm.
Advance tickets are $38-41 and $42-45 at the door.
