Ballet is a classic art of dance. A love story is a classic topic for any performance. Friday night, the two ideas will merge, but this time with an unexpected character — Dracula.

The Iowa Dance Theatre is presenting “Dracula: A Comedy Noir” Friday night in celebration of Halloween.

Janice Baker, assistant professor of health and human performance, is the ballet’s “mistress,” otherwise known as the ballet’s project director. Baker says she used the original choreography created by James Clouser, professor at Northern Texas University, and then added some of her own flavor to it.

“It’s a collaboration of works,” Baker says.

While some of the choreography is quite advanced, the storyline is appropriate for all ages, Baker says.

“It’s a story of good and evil,” she says. “It follows one character, Dracula, through his innocence and attraction to the dark side.”

The cast features dancers from area dance schools including the Lind School of Dance, the Dance Place, the Robert Thomas Dancenter and the Jodie Currie School of Dance, as well as two ISU students.

The story of “Dracula” is simple — he is drawn to the dark side, yet he is unable to bite his first pure love, Marie, which would consequently turn her into an evil being.

The story is played out throughout the show with complex dances and chase scenes, Baker says.

“It takes a serious thing through a fun frolic of different dances of the past,” she says. “It’s a show within a show.”

Some of the chase scenes are shown through a Renaissance waltz, an opera, the Charleston and a blues ballad, she says.

Matt Becker, junior in performing arts, says “Dracula” is a very creative show.

He says he easily could name his favorite part of the ballet: the dummy waltz. The “waltz” is a scene where three male performers and one female performer dance together with two dummies, Becker says.

“The one girl is dressed the same as the dummies and the audience has a hard time telling which one is the girl,” he says. “It’s a really funny piece and the audience gets a real kick out of it.”

But before any of the actual performance takes place, there will be a costume contest among the audience members, Baker says.

The audience is invited to come in costume, where they will be judged in categories by age groups to determine whose costume is the most creative.

“We’ll do a little parade of the costumes and the most interesting of each category will win a T-shirt or tickets to an upcoming show,” Baker says.

---

What: Dracula: A Comedy Noir”

Where: Toman Dance Studio, Forker Building

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday

Cost: $8 students, $10 public