Principal Cast Set For DRACULA Return at Cape Town City Ballet

Cape Town City Ballet has announced that Oleksii Ishchenko (pictured with CTCB's Sasha Barnes) will be joining the company for their upcoming return season of David Nixon CBE's DRACULA at Artscape this Halloween. Alongside leading principal Leusson Muniz and Zachary Healy, he will dance the title role in this limited season that has already seen the addition of an extra performance, by popular demand.

Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, Oleksii brings more than 20 years of international dance experience to the role. Trained from the age of 10 at the renowned Virsky Ballet professional school, he joined the Virsky Ballet Company at age 17, and went on to enjoy an international career that took him across Europe, North America, Japan and Mexico. Since relocating to South Africa in 2013, Oleksii has become known for his versatility, performing in ballet, theatre, television, film and commercial productions. His credits include various roles with Cape Town City Ballet as well as The Kissing Booth 2 & 3, G20 and Good Omens. He also works as a choreographer and coach his repertoire includes contemporary dance, ballroom, Latin American, acrobatics, and aerial and partner work.

Leading ballerina Kirstél Paterson will share the role of Mina with Hannah Ward and Sasha Barnes. Other significant roles include Harker (Fanelo Ndweni, Gil Zuntini), Lucy (Hannah Ward, Isabella Blair, Genevieve Magua), Arthur (Axton Green, Jordan Roelfze, Gil Zuntini), Seward (Zachary Healy, Axton Green, Likhaya Loyiti), Renfield (Luke Wragg, Fanelo Ndweni, Elvis Nonjeke) and Van Helsing (Lihle Mfene).

Nixon's Dracula demands extraordinary physicality from its dancers - power, strength, athleticism, precision and an almost feral intensity- while retaining the elegance and technique of classical ballet. The result is ballet at its most visceral: sensual, dramatic and hauntingly beautiful.

Expect fangs, forbidden desire, supernatural intrigue and some seriously phenomenal dancing. This is a production that takes ballet into thrilling new territory, with enough raw energy and theatrical darkness to entice newcomers while satisfying the most devoted ballet purists.

For those tempted by the mysterious and macabre, the invitation is simple: surrender to the dark side.