WEEKEND: Ballet Victoria to premiere ‘Dracula’ in Port Angeles on Saturday night

PORT ANGELES — That Lucy, she is a seductress. Suitors swirl around her, and one asks for her hand in marriage.

Then Lucy meets the Count, a suitor from the dark side, and away we are all swept. Their world is place of grace and danger, where light and dark flow together into one.

This is “Dracula,” the Ballet Victoria creation about to have its world premiere.

Lucy, portrayed by principal dancer Andrea Bayne, will join a band of vampires and innocents on stage at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave., this Saturday night.

The Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts booked Ballet Victoria for one night’s show even before the company is to present “Dracula” next weekend in their home city, as part of the Juan de Fuca Season Concerts series.

The curtain will rise on Bram Stoker’s story, set to music both classical and contemporary, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $35 for adults and older teens or $10 for children age 14 and younger (see box at right).

This “Dracula” is based on the book ­— while the production ventures outside traditional ballet parameters, said Paul Destrooper, Ballet Victoria’s artistic director.

The Count is an archetype: the dark side to which we humans are drawn. And it takes two, Destrooper added, to walk down the path toward trouble. That’s what happens with Lucy, the powerful one who falls for Dracula.

The title role is danced by new Ballet Victoria principal Matthew Cluff as a Count who has a vulnerable streak beneath his menace. Floating around him are five vampires, danced by Bethany LeCorre, Emily Bridge, Brighton Collins, Georgia Semple and Kaela Willey. Then there is Nanako Yoshimura as Mina. She possesses her own brand of power, and with it she vanquishes Dracula.

For Bayne, the role of Lucy is a complete departure.

“I am typically cast as the nice, sweet character,” said the dancer. She’s played the Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker,” Tinker Bell in “Peter Pan” and the title role in “Cinderella.”

“This ballet has been quite a challenge for me. I had to find that inner evil,” Bayne added. “My directors want to push my acting ability. And it has been great to push beyond my comfort zone,” while dancing choreography that is highly technical.

“There are intense lifts, intricate partnering . . . it’s top notch.”

Choosing the sound­track for this ballet posed a challenge, Destrooper said. He loves classical ballet music, but wanted something even more dramatic for the vampire’s tale, with its sensual pas de deux and scenes of surrender.

The music he has chosen ranges from Beethoven and Bizet to Astor Piazzolla, Gregorian chant and Sia’s hit song “Chandelier.” There’s also an excerpt from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie score.

Bayne, for her part, said the music is one element in a deliciously nontraditional ballet.

“You will be shocked. It’s all-encompassing.

“There are the technical aspects for people who know about dance,” she said. “There’s also an interesting story line. People are going to be impressed by the artistry. . . . I just think it’s a ballet for everyone.”

Bayne has been a dancer for 25 years.

And with Ballet Victoria since 2007, she’s heard a similar story, time and again, from women in her audience.

“One told me, ‘I brought my husband. He didn’t want to come. He ended up standing on his feet,’” applauding madly.