MARK Bruce Company brings some bite to Frome with ‘DRACULA’ on Friday and Saturday 26th and 27th September at the Merlin.
In 2013 Mark Bruce Company toured its darkly thrilling, critically acc-laimed dance-theatre production ‘DRACULA’ which won the company the prestigious South Bank Award for Dance.
Including a four-week sellout run at London’s glorious Victorian venue, Wilton’s Music Hall, ‘DRACULA’ played to capacity audiences and universally excellent notices around the country.
On Friday 26th September the company kicks off an extensive UK tour at Frome’s Merlin Theatre.
Director, choreographer and artistic director Mark Bruce said, “It’s great to be going on the road with Dracula again and I’m delighted to be responding to overwhelming public demand so that we can visit lots of venues around the country that we didn’t have chance to visit last year.
“We’ve got a really strong cast which includes most of the original members, and I’m very much looking forward to sharing it with new audiences.”
The company of 10 exceptional dancers bring Bram Stoker’s 1897 haunting, erotic tale to life in a heart wrenching, magical dance theatre production. With an eclectic mix of music from Bach and Mozart to contemporary classical composers György Ligeti (fittingly, born in Transylvania) and Fred Frith, Bruce explores choreographic styles which range from the subtlety of classical etiquette to visceral contemporary dance.
One of the UK’s most highly regarded performers, Jonathan Goddard, plays the Vampire Count, whose sinister ambitions challenge the very fabric of Victorian society.
As Dracula’s victims and opponents rally against him, they are forced to face the darkness and savagery within themselves. Mark continued, “Before thinking about Jonathan Goddard playing the role, I hadn’t decided if I wanted to use an actor or a dancer.
The idea of a ‘dancing’ Dracula is tricky, but when I worked with Jonathan I found all kinds of possibilities for choreographic vocabulary; he brings many sides to the role: the hunter, the wolf, the noble and sinister count, the lonely undead, a malevolent humour, a vicious callous streak and a childlike naivety.”
