Oliver Halkowich, choreographer and director at New Orleans Ballet Theatre
Everybody's in LA: Oliver Halkowich
Interview by Paul Oswell
In May this year, the New Orleans Ballet Theatre presented a new interpretation of Dracula, choreographed and directed by Oliver Halkowich. The company is reviving the production for a Halloween run at the Orpheum Theatre - we caught up with Oliver to talk about vampires, costumes and Halloween...
Out All Day: Congratulations on a quick revival for this ballet! Your company first performed Dracula in the spring, what prompted you to go again for this Halloween season?
Oliver Halkowich: Thank you! I got the question often when we premiered the ballet, “Why Dracula in May?” Greg Schramel, artistic director of NOBT, always hoped the new production could be another holiday tradition like the Nutcracker. We saw in May how people responded to it, especially coming to the performances dressed up and knew Halloween would be a great time for New Orleans to really get into the ballet. It seems Dracula and vampires are a year round obsession!
How much rehearsal is needed when you pick a show back up like this? Does everyone slip into their roles easily enough, are the muscle memories still fresh?
We had about a month to put the show together. We have some new dancers this season that have jumped into roles and I created a new part for a dancer who just joined us. It was a huge help that we had only performed it 4 months ago as the original cast really helped getting it back up to speed.
What do you think it is about the Dracula story that gives it such long-lasting appeal? What are the particular themes within the story that the ballet looks to explore?
To be honest Dracula had never really pulled me in before beginning work on this production. I danced Renfield in Ben Stevenson’s mega production with Houston Ballet around 2005 and had a great time making something with the part, but I remember trying to read the Bram Stoker classic and getting through only 50 pages. Likewise I didn’t enjoy Coppola’s film when I first saw it (I did rewatch preparing for this and think it's pretty fantastic). I did however love reading Anne Rice when I was younger and I was pretty obsessed with the vampire series True Blood on HBO. There was the overt sexuality, the glamorised darkness seducing you, but the other worldly characters had some humanness that you could relate to. I did make it through Stoker’s book finally. I actually read it twice and it was the internal struggle of Jonathan Harker that drew me in; him coming to terms with some inner darkness that he couldn’t reckon with.
New Orleans is almost like a spiritual home for vampirism in North America, and there's always that sense here of mixing the romantic and the profane. Does the city and its paranormal culture inform the production at all?
I wanted to make a Dracula for New Orleans. The high/low of this city is like no other I’ve been to. Its poles of light and dark, its complicated history, the magic in the air were all an influences on me. I named the group of female vampires in the ballet the Casket Girls based on the rumours of women who came to New Orleans from France with casket shaped boxes.
Portrayals of Dracula really reach back to the early days of cinema, and go all the way from Max Schreck to Bela Lugosi, to Christopher Lee and Gary Oldman in more recent times. Do you have any favorite on-screen portrayals of Dracula or the characters from this world?
As I mentioned, my first reaction to Coppola’s Dracula with Gray Oldman was not a good one. But I rememberd Oldman being incredible. The shapeshifting of his character throughout was particularly memorable. The 1922 German film, Nosferatu was also inspiring for body language and lighting. But I pulled from a lot of influences as we got going. From Luca Guadagnino’s recent Suspiria remake and Chris Nolan’s Memento to Bob Fosse’s Cabaret and Sweet Charity.
Are you someone who throws themselves into Halloween season? Are there any other seasonal events around the city that you're excited to see?
My mother had me in elaborate Halloween costumes from a very young age which I don’t remember loving. I just found an old VHS of me as Count Dracula at age 5. I was never big into dressing up for Halloween which is ironic as I went into a career of being in costume. But walking around New Orleans and seeing the creativity and humour in the Halloween season has me and it has illuminated how the people of this city look at the darker side of life.
What next for the New Orleans Ballet Theatre? Do you have any plans for after this run?
As much as Dracula might want Halloween to be the new holiday show in town, the Nutcracker might have something to say about that. NOBT is back at the Orpheum Theater in December for 11 shows of the holiday classic. And 2025 has a lot going on with more contemporary works in the beginning of the year and then the romantic classic Giselle in May, showing off the versatility of these New Orleans’ dancers. You can find out more at NOBT.org
Thanks for talking to us, Oliver - all our best wishes for the show!
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Dracula and we’re looking forward to seeing some wild costumes in the audience!
Read our review of Dracula at The Orpheum Theatre from May 2024
Dracula runs at The Orpheum Theatre from Oct 27th-Oct 30th. Click here for more information and ticketing
Interview by Paul Oswell
In May this year, the New Orleans Ballet Theatre presented a new interpretation of Dracula, choreographed and directed by Oliver Halkowich. The company is reviving the production for a Halloween run at the Orpheum Theatre - we caught up with Oliver to talk about vampires, costumes and Halloween...
Out All Day: Congratulations on a quick revival for this ballet! Your company first performed Dracula in the spring, what prompted you to go again for this Halloween season?
Oliver Halkowich: Thank you! I got the question often when we premiered the ballet, “Why Dracula in May?” Greg Schramel, artistic director of NOBT, always hoped the new production could be another holiday tradition like the Nutcracker. We saw in May how people responded to it, especially coming to the performances dressed up and knew Halloween would be a great time for New Orleans to really get into the ballet. It seems Dracula and vampires are a year round obsession!
How much rehearsal is needed when you pick a show back up like this? Does everyone slip into their roles easily enough, are the muscle memories still fresh?
We had about a month to put the show together. We have some new dancers this season that have jumped into roles and I created a new part for a dancer who just joined us. It was a huge help that we had only performed it 4 months ago as the original cast really helped getting it back up to speed.
What do you think it is about the Dracula story that gives it such long-lasting appeal? What are the particular themes within the story that the ballet looks to explore?
To be honest Dracula had never really pulled me in before beginning work on this production. I danced Renfield in Ben Stevenson’s mega production with Houston Ballet around 2005 and had a great time making something with the part, but I remember trying to read the Bram Stoker classic and getting through only 50 pages. Likewise I didn’t enjoy Coppola’s film when I first saw it (I did rewatch preparing for this and think it's pretty fantastic). I did however love reading Anne Rice when I was younger and I was pretty obsessed with the vampire series True Blood on HBO. There was the overt sexuality, the glamorised darkness seducing you, but the other worldly characters had some humanness that you could relate to. I did make it through Stoker’s book finally. I actually read it twice and it was the internal struggle of Jonathan Harker that drew me in; him coming to terms with some inner darkness that he couldn’t reckon with.
New Orleans is almost like a spiritual home for vampirism in North America, and there's always that sense here of mixing the romantic and the profane. Does the city and its paranormal culture inform the production at all?
I wanted to make a Dracula for New Orleans. The high/low of this city is like no other I’ve been to. Its poles of light and dark, its complicated history, the magic in the air were all an influences on me. I named the group of female vampires in the ballet the Casket Girls based on the rumours of women who came to New Orleans from France with casket shaped boxes.
Portrayals of Dracula really reach back to the early days of cinema, and go all the way from Max Schreck to Bela Lugosi, to Christopher Lee and Gary Oldman in more recent times. Do you have any favorite on-screen portrayals of Dracula or the characters from this world?
As I mentioned, my first reaction to Coppola’s Dracula with Gray Oldman was not a good one. But I rememberd Oldman being incredible. The shapeshifting of his character throughout was particularly memorable. The 1922 German film, Nosferatu was also inspiring for body language and lighting. But I pulled from a lot of influences as we got going. From Luca Guadagnino’s recent Suspiria remake and Chris Nolan’s Memento to Bob Fosse’s Cabaret and Sweet Charity.
Are you someone who throws themselves into Halloween season? Are there any other seasonal events around the city that you're excited to see?
My mother had me in elaborate Halloween costumes from a very young age which I don’t remember loving. I just found an old VHS of me as Count Dracula at age 5. I was never big into dressing up for Halloween which is ironic as I went into a career of being in costume. But walking around New Orleans and seeing the creativity and humour in the Halloween season has me and it has illuminated how the people of this city look at the darker side of life.
What next for the New Orleans Ballet Theatre? Do you have any plans for after this run?
As much as Dracula might want Halloween to be the new holiday show in town, the Nutcracker might have something to say about that. NOBT is back at the Orpheum Theater in December for 11 shows of the holiday classic. And 2025 has a lot going on with more contemporary works in the beginning of the year and then the romantic classic Giselle in May, showing off the versatility of these New Orleans’ dancers. You can find out more at NOBT.org
Thanks for talking to us, Oliver - all our best wishes for the show!
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Dracula and we’re looking forward to seeing some wild costumes in the audience!
Read our review of Dracula at The Orpheum Theatre from May 2024
Dracula runs at The Orpheum Theatre from Oct 27th-Oct 30th. Click here for more information and ticketing
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