In the spirit of Halloween and the current vampire-erotica craze, I went to see Scorpius Dance Theatre’s production of A Vampire Tale last Friday night at the Phoenix Little Theatre. Returning for its eighth consecutive season, the show included sensualities and audience that I wasn’t expecting, but that many people in the crowd were very, very pleased by.
Performed through contemporary dance, aerial acrobatics, and a quirky “strange man,” the drama centers around a young woman enticed to join a group of vampires. Though she is originally frightened, she becomes fascinated with the underworlders’ dark debauchery and seductive showmanship. The passionate encounters between the girl and the king vampire fuel envy amongst the group, adding an extra twist to the storyline.
A story all of us can relate to, right?
When I spoke to artistic director and choreographer Lisa Starry later she described how she’s revamped (I know, bad attempt at paranormal humor) the cult-fave saying, “I feel how the audience responds to it. For instance, I saw that people liked the aerial scenes, so I tried to incorporate them more.” Over the years, the musical tracks for the performance have been tweaked to become a combination of hypnotic tempos and ethereal vocals, adding to the allure of the show.
For years this question has been circulated, but why has vampire entertainment been such a success? We just can’t get enough of it. In Starry’s opinion, “People are drawn to it [because] the powers vampires are associated with are sexy and romantic.” Vampires are shown to be mysterious, brooding, and intense, and if the slaughtering aspect is overlooked, quite charming. Don’t we all try to make excuses for the people we like most? (“He’s not murderous, he’s just really ambitious. He knows what he wants”).
So was all of this inspired by a certain vampire book series? A Vampire Tale first debuted in 2004, a year before the first Twilight novel was published, actually. “I’ve been fascinated with stories about vampires since I was a kid,” Starry explained during our conversation. The artistic director is now biting (yes, the lame vampire jokes continue) her time to make a film out of the theater production. “This story is original because it’s told through the dance world, which hasn’t really been done the same way we’re doing it.”
If you’re looking for a vampy night the performance continues until Oct. 22.
If you have any suggestions for what I should check out next, email me at Mary.G.Richardson@asu.edu or follow me on Twitter at @MG_Richardson
