Tacoma City Ballet presents the company’s long-awaited original production of Dracula: The Romantic Ballet, with three performances at the Theatre on the Square, beginning Friday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m., and concluding with two performances on Nov. 1 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

The ballet’s beginning was actually some four years ago, Ceragioli recalls. “I had thought that it might be nice to do a ballet that revolved around another holiday.” (TCB is among the many companies, near and far, that perform The Nutcracker each December to large audiences.) Ceragioli reasoned that a ballet built around another holiday theme might also be attractive to audiences. The result was a grant from the Cheney Foundation and an original ballet based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

But Dracula: The Romantic Ballet has still not been seen by Tacoma audiences. The original production was stalled — one week before its scheduled opening — by venue problems incurred by the Pantages, which was then the only theater that could accommodate the production. TCB had already used the Cheney grant to build scenery, props and costumes for the production. With the approval of the foundation, all of it went into storage until the orphaned show found a home. The vacant Theatre on the Square has now provided that home for Dracula to rise at last and see the light of … night.

Ceragioli created the choreography, and Northwest Sinfonietta Music Director Christophe Chagnard arranged the score. Chagnard also directs the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, and that group will perform the Dracula score live for the production.

Audiences can, and are encouraged to, wear costumes of their own. 

To learn more about Tacoma City Ballet, visit www.tacomacityballet.com. 

[Theatre on the Square, Friday, Oct. 31 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1 2 and 7 p.m., $25, 915 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]