By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Oct 23, 2015 at 9:03 AM

The word "breathless" is thrown about pretty easily when people describe an experience they have had at a performing arts event.

It left me "breathless." Everyone around me was "breathless." This was an absolutely "breathless" production. The word has been used so often that it has lost some of its punch.

That is until you get a chance to see the Milwaukee Ballet’s Halloween production of "Dracula" that opened at the Marcus Center Thursday night.

Using the word "breathless" is, in this case, not a description of the production. Rather, it is a fact that there are moments in this production where I, and others around me, had difficulty breathing. It is that dramatic a show.

Artistic director Michael Pink, who created this show almost 20 years ago in England, has created the kind of magical piece that comes along only once in awhile. Pink’s ballet has been performed around the world many times, always to accolades and "breathless" critical praise.

And make no mistake about it, this is truly Pink’s ballet.

It has everything that makes a great story and a great ballet. It has pretty girls having fun and pretty girls in distress. It has handsome men and boys dancing and fighting and even trying to kill. It has a child in danger. It has a mental sanitorium. It has a dead wolf hung from on high. It has lightning. It has smoke. It has a soaring musical score by Philip Feeney under the baton of Andrews Still. Thursday night, it even had an elderly lady in the audience fall during the start of the second act, and ushers and a doctor two seats away from me rushing to her rescue. It has a pas de deux with two men, for god’s sake.

Need anything else? Of course we do.

We need Dracula.

Perhaps the greatest villain of all time. The creature (man?) who drinks the blood of his victims in order to stay alive.

Davit Hovhannisyan, who has been with the ballet for 11 years, danced Dracula in what is certainly a performance for the ages. He has mastered the art of the sinister seduction, drawing the unsuspecting into his lair. Hovhannisyan both partners and dances alone as if there are wings on his feet and sinew in his muscles. He is that rare male dancer who combines equal parts grace, speed and power. It is a formidable combination.

There is a sequence in the second act when Dracula descends on a jungle gym type structure where I genuinely stopped breathing. He slithered upside down and then upright and upside down again, ever so slowly, before landing in a haze of smoke hugging the floor.

It is those kinds of moments that brand the Pink choreography. He is above all else, a storyteller. He has an obvious intellectual and intimate understanding of the story. But he also brings a lover’s grasp of the emotional context and moments.

At one point after Lucy, an engaging and sparkling Luz San Miguel, has been victimized by Dracula, she has becomes one of the undead. While on one side of a darkened stage, she sees a young blonde headed girl enter with her red rubber ball. Lucy seduces her into a game of catch, and you just know what is coming.

Lucy stands and holds out her hand, and the little girl takes it. Another gasp. And they walk off the stage together, holding hands. We know where they are headed, and moments later, a blistering scream rips through the auditorium.

Finally, we are free to let the air out of our lungs again and free to hold the hand of the person sitting with you just a little bit tighter.

The ballet company filled all the roles in the large cast in its normal graceful style. There were at least a couple of standout performances.

Susan Gartell danced the role of Mina, the one woman who has not fallen under Dracula’s spell until the final act. Gartell is an emotional powerhouse with a kind of aloof grace that sent shivers through the audience.

Meanwhile, Patrick Howell danced the role of the hapless Harker, an early victim of Dracula’s. He and Hovhannisyan danced the pas de deux at the end of the first act, a rare moment in a ballet and one that audiences are unaccustomed to seeing. But these two vital male dancers made it a dance of seduction and death that was riveting.

"Dracula" continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Information on showtimes and tickets is available here.

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.