Spooky Stories and Creepy Creatures in October Ballet Premieres

As October begins with its familiar chill, ballet companies are embracing the Halloween spirit and bringing iconic scary stories to the stage.

This season will see world premieres of Dracula from Carolina Ballet (October 15–November 1) and Avant Chamber Ballet (October 30–31); State Street Ballet will present a new interpretation of the tale, featuring onstage musical accompaniment, in Dracula, a dark shadow (October 30–31). Halloween weekend also brings Louisville Ballet’s new interpretation of Frankenstein (October 30–31) and Madison Ballet’s Jekyll & Hyde (October 29–November 1).

In addition to these classic tales, Wonderbound, Charleston Ballet, and Ballet Des Moines are serving up some fresh, freaky productions with newer narratives.

Wonderbound: The Witching Hour

From October 15–25, an eerie new ballet by Wonderbound artistic director and choreographer Garrett Ammon explores “the witching hour,” the mysterious time from 3 am to 4 am when the veil between reality and illusion is thinnest. The Witching Hour follows two siblings who grow up with their father’s magical stories of otherworldly beings. When he dies, leaving behind a mysterious pocket watch and a journal, the siblings must navigate portals to dangerous alternate worlds as they come to terms with their loss.

The 13-dancer ballet will feature live accompaniment by multi-genre group the Clay Rose Band, led by Clay Rose, Wonderbound’s music coordinator. Rose’s new score includes American and European folk-inspired music, as well as punk and old-school rock. The ballet also merges real-world problems and themes with the mystical. Ammon says he enjoys working with this type of storytelling and collaborated with Rose in developing the ballet’s original libretto.

“I’m taking really straightforward things that we all experience, whether it’s loss or fear or addiction, or any number of these very human things that we struggle with,” Ammon tells Pointe in a phone interview, “then merging them with supernatural aspects to kind of raise the stakes.”

Charleston Ballet: The Legend of Mothman

Charleston Ballet’s newest production spotlights West Virginia’s notorious Point Pleasant cryptid, the Mothman. Running October 23–24 at West Virginia Culture Center Theater, The Legend of Mothman features choreography by West Virginia–based dancemaker Kim R. Pauley, an original story by multi-hyphenate Deborah Novak, and a commissioned score by local composer Matt Jackfert. It will also include motion-captured projections by Carol and Mike DelGrosso. (The company recently added a matinee on October 24 after the Friday show sold out.)

In 1966, residents in the Point Pleasant area reported encounters with a towering humanoid creature with glowing red eyes: the Mothman. Based on true accounts from the time, Novak’s story follows four teenagers who first encounter the creature and the local media frenzy that ensues. “These were real kids,” Pauley tells Pointe in a phone call. After their encounter with the Mothman, she says, their lives changed completely: “That’s what their future became.”

In preparation for the ballet, Pauley and Novak visited a museum in Point Pleasant to learn more about the folktale and to meet Jeff Wamsley, who published a book about sightings and news coverage of the local legend. “The Mothman is a rich folklore story,” Pauley explains. “Some people believe it and some people don’t. That’s what’s kind of fun about it.” 

Ballet Des Moines: Ghost Stories

Ballet Des Moines presents its seasonal lineup, Ghost Stories, at Hoyt Sherman Place October 23–24. The program includes excerpts from Act II of Giselle alongside Queer the Ballet founder Adriana Pierce’s 2023 Ghost Ballads and the world-premiere of Nevermore, by BDM resident choreographer Tom Mattingly. Des Moines–based poet and actor Bill Weathers will narrate the evening. “I want audiences to feel as though they’re gathered around a campfire, watching one ghost story move into the next,” Trope writes in a press statement.

Mattingly’s Nevermore, created with composer Beau Kenyon, is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s writings and personal life. Mattingly collaborated with local creative Sarah Dornink, who designed the costumes for the nonnarrative, large ensemble work. “I’ve always found Poe to be an interesting figure,” Mattingly writes via email. “He has managed to be this icon of American authors that is still shrouded in mystery.”

Pierce’s Ghost Ballads, created on Carolina Ballet, draws from the Graveyard Poets, a group of 18th-century writers who meditated on mortality and memory. Set in a cemetery, the seven-dancer, neoclassical ballet features a series of divertissements inspired by the writers’ work.

The night will also feature a surprise performance by local studio Dance Vision. “From zombies to poetry to classical ballet,” Trope writes, “I’m excited to explore why we’re so fascinated by the supernatural, the mysterious, and the darker corners of the imagination.”