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| Linzer bites Butler ©SKepecs 2013 |
by Susan Kepecs
Matthew
Linzer, who was Count Dracula in the world premiere of Madison Ballet’s
steampunk vampire production last spring, is Count Dracula again – just in time
for Halloween. The chic and sexy show runs next Weds. – Sat. (Oct. 23-26) in
Overture’s Capitol Theater. Linzer is
waiting for a rehearsal of company artistic director W. Earle Smith’s
choreographic take on Bram Stoker’s Victorian Gothic horror story when I walk into
the big, warm-toned studio. He’s sitting
in the floor in second position, leaning forward on his elbows, checking his
cell phone. Some dancers are stretching;
others go over steps together along the back wall.
The CD of local composer Michael Massey’s rock n’ roll Dracula score, written specifically for
Smith’s ballet, starts up. Brian Roethlisberger
(Jonathan Harker) looks around, obviously spooked, and leaps into the grand
allegro that is his captive-in-the-castle variation. Linzer stands up, rolls his shoulders a few
times to get ready to move, and begins to slink across the floor toward
Roethlisberger, who’s started a series of second position pirouettes. Linzer bows to his prisoner and circles him,
looking hungry. His lip curls; his mouth
closes on Roethlisberger’s neck. It’s ambiguous – a kiss, or a bite? Roethlisberger falls, exhausted, watching
warily; Linzer turns away, sweeping through an enchaînement of tour jetes,
saute de chats, pirouettes and attitude turns, then doubles back and crouches
suggestively over his victim.
The lunatic Renfield (Jackson Warring) does his batty little dance;
Linzer / Dracula watches, mildly amused, then bites the crazy man’s neck and
flings him to the floor.
Marguerite Luksik (Lucy Westernra), rehearsing the nightmare scene, executes
a set of elastic, hip-rolling turns. Linzer
warms up again; some cobra-like pushups on the floor, a luxurious piriformis
stretch with one knee propped on the closed top of the Steinway. And in the blink of an eye he's back in action, sinking
his teeth into Luksik’s neck and quickly turning away, fangs still bared,
wiping hot blood from his lips. Now he’s
stalking Lucy’s best friend and Harker’s fiancée, Mina Murray (Rachelle Butler),
with whom he dances a languid, sensuous pas de deux, his extraordinary teeth
hovering near her neck.
I’ve
fallen through the looking glass. Even though
the dancers are in plain practice togs I’m nearly convinced this is real. At rehearsal break I follow Linzer / Dracula
down the hall, hoping to see what vampires do in their spare time. I find him relaxing in a striped, upholstered
chair nestled in a windowless corner of the Madison Ballet office. I venture some questions.
CulturalOyster: How do vampires get ready for
rehearsal?
Linzer: Blood, then coffee, then more blood, then more coffee. Maybe a blood smoothie or two. Hopefully I’m full during the day so there’s
not so much temptation to snack on my partners.
And of course vampires take class like everyone else, so it starts there. It’s hard to get warm, ‘cause we’re cold
blooded – essentially I’m dead. And I’m
stiff when I get up from the coffin, so I have to loosen up quite a bit. I do special fang warmups to get the blood
flowing.
CulturalOyster: But you can dance during the day? I thought you only came out at night.
Linzer: I’m superhuman, so I just work around it. Of course, I do some of my best work at night
– I think over what happened during the day, what could be better, and what I
need to work on the next day. It’s not
easy for me, doing day work. I’m not a
person who just pops right up and gets ready; I need a relaxed start and a good
breakfast. I try to be very balanced and calm – tension doesn’t work for me. And then when we drive over here I’m covered
in a black shroud, so I don’t burn up on the way. Luckily, the studio has no windows. Once I get here I try to have a good time –
it should be fun, and it is. Earle is
great to work with, and so are my partners.
CulturalOyster: How did a vampire like you get started in
this career?
Linzer: I was born in Maryland, in the DC area. I started dancing because when I was really
little I would dance around my house to pop music and I was driving my mom
nuts, so she put me in a Saturday morning dance class that ended up being
ballet. I wasn’t too keen on it, but she
bribed me to try it. By first grade I’d
ended up at Maryland Youth Ballet, where I studied till my senior year. When I graduated I went to Juilliard; later I
danced with Ballet Memphis and then moved to the Bay Area, where I’ve been for
the last eight years. I danced with Oakland
Ballet, Diablo, and Smuin; I’ve also freelanced quite a bit, including with
Madison Ballet. Right now I’m concentrating on freelancing and figuring out
what’s next for me.
CulturalOyster: I imagine freelancing gives you the
flexibility to move around, say from Transylvania to England, when you need
to. But is being a dancer a good life
for a vampire?
Linzer: Why not? We perform at night,
there’s drama, there’s occasional blood.
And definitely, whether you’re doing Dracula
or Nutcracker, there’s a sexuality to
dance. You’re touching people and
interacting with them. It’s not always
sexual but it’s always sensory, and there’s something very intriguing about
that.
CulturalOyster: What about all the biting and kissing?
Linzer: I just do it, it doesn’t mean anything, there’s no personal attachment
– it’s just part of the power and control that’s the key to the character. Part of that is sexual prowess. Biting someone on their neck is very
erogenous, there’s something very sexual about vampires and it’s very intimate,
how we feed. It’s not formal
sitting-at-the-table – you have to have another person there in order to
satisfy your cravings. For rehearsal
it’s just an act, and I can detach from the reality of hunger – I’m not really
feeding, I just have in my falsies, er, my fang dentures. Onstage it’s all heightened, it’s more
realistic when you put on those clothes and get all done up. And it’s a little darker in the theater, so I
like it a lot more.
CulturalOyster: Are some kisses sexier than others in this
ballet?
Linzer: Most of them are about power. I
never kiss Renfield, I just bite – I think of him as a malleable pawn. He’s a little off-color – there’s something
that intrigues me from a power point of view, I like to play with that, but
he’s a little too weird – his essence doesn’t quite entice me.
It’s a little more lustful with Harker – there’s an innocence to
him. He definitely gets me going. I want to invite him into my world, but he’s
definitely not going to fit in there – there’s no long-term connection, it’s
more of a fling.
When I bite Lucy, I’m hungry. Blood tastes good, it’s the only thing I
can eat. It satisfies the senses. The taste, the texture, the feel of it
running down your face, the whole sense of exerting physical dominance – I
really jump on her. It’s not dainty,
it’s really quite carnal. It’s exciting, feeling the blood and the satisfaction of feeding on someone –
sex and power sometimes go hand in hand, and part of my power is sexual.
But Mina – there’s something special about her, her blood, her smell,
her essence, it’s like a fine wine.
There’s definitely much more of an allure. She’s the rare case – it’s more love than
lust. I still try to bite her, but I’m a
little more sensitive – I’m more lenient with her.
Lucy and Mina, how could they not like it? I think there’s definitely fear, ‘cause it’s
unknown – I do hurt and kill people by feeding off them. They don’t want to be my victims, but there’s
something mesmerizing about me, so there’s temptation. They might be innocent, but they both have an
underlying, insatiable quality within them – they like to bad boy a little bit.
CulturalOyster: You get killed at the end of Dracula.
What happens when a vampire dies?
Linzer: In real life we have to be staked.
Luckily, since this is only a ballet we have a trick stake. Even so, it’s very fearful for me. First I get shot, and then I feed off myself
– I kind of enjoy that, the heat and the blood.
My final dance is about being vulnerable and wounded and less powerful,
more helpless – and then I get fake-staked.
I feel bad for the guys who have to carry me up the stairs [on the set]
at the end.
___________________________________________
Don’t let having
seen Madison Ballet’s Dracula last
spring at its world premiere stop you from going again. It’s much jucier the second time around! Three of the four principles (Linzer, Roethlisberger,
Luksik) are the same, but Rachelle Butler replaces Jennifer Tierney as Mina
Murray. Don’t miss Butler's performance,
she’s one of the quintessential
Madison Ballet dancers. There are a few
new dancers in the company, too, which adds spice.
If you need the Cliff Notes to follow the story, here’s the link: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/d/dracula/book-summary ... and remember, it's Halloween. Steampunk attire or your spookiest vampire outfits are totally appropriate for the theater.
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