Ballet, zombies and vampires, oh my!

Ilkley Gazette features the return of Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre.

Audiences can join one of literature’s most iconic heroines on a journey of resilience, romance and redemption as Northern Ballet’s critically acclaimed Jane Eyre heads to Leeds Grand Theatre this spring from March 14 – 22.

Based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë, Northern Ballet will bring this beautiful love story to life with heart-stirring choreography and live music that captures the essence of her timeless tale.

Experience the unexpected twists and turns of one woman’s life from the dreary school room to a towering manor house and the sweeping Yorkshire moors. The ultimate dramatic tale of romance, jealousy and dark secrets, Jane Eyre is the story of one woman’s indomitable spirit overcoming all boundaries.

Jane Eyre was originally premièred by Northern Ballet in May 2016 and nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2017. Jane Eyre is choreographed by internationally acclaimed British dance maker Cathy Marston whose recent credits include Snowblind for Atlanta Ballet and The Cellist for Ballet Zürich in 2023.

Jane Eyre is set to a score of original compositions and existing work compiled and arranged by composer Philip Feeney. Sets and costumes are designed by Patrick Kinmonth and lighting is designed by Alastair West, whose recent credits include Northern Ballet’s Casanova.

Cathy Marston said: "The Brontë's stories are inspiring to translate into dance because of their intense emotional journeys for the protagonists, the backdrop of landscape and elemental forces that seem to amplify these emotions, and in the case of Jane Eyre particularly, the range of wonderful soloist roles that add texture, depth, and warmth to the central narrative."

Federico Bonelli, Artistic Director at Northern Ballet said: "What do we all love about Jane Eyre? Her resilience, determination and steadfast knowledge of who she is as she navigates a life filled with turmoil. Combined with her love story with Mr Rochester this story is perfect to be told through ballet, and in our Jane Eyre the dancing, sets, costumes and music fully immerse you in Jane's life. There is so much for any dancer to work with to encapsulate the layered characters and narrative created by Charlotte Brontë and even more for an audience member to enjoy in this beautiful retelling by Cathy Marston.” (Claire Lomax)

Mental Floss reminds readers of the fact that,

Tuberculosis may seem like a historic disease: A scourge of overcrowded, unsanitary European cities of the 19th century, a plot point in La Bohème or Jane Eyre, and an inspiration for mournful paintings by Edvard Munch and Claude Monet. But TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease (after it was briefly displaced by COVID-19). According to the World Health Organization, 1.25 million people died from TB in 2023 and another 10.8 million were infected. (Nick Keppler)

Daily Dot discusses why 'the Gothic vampire aesthetic is dominating fashion again'.

Vampires aren’t new. Derived from Slavic folklore, the vampire as we know it in popular culture today is a human-like creature that feeds on the blood of others for sustenance. Usually emerging as a seductive and mysterious being, it unleashes chaos upon the communities it infiltrates. 

The most well-known vampire is the titular character in Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel Dracula, which was published in 1897 and gave rise to onscreen adaptations like F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. Dracula was far from the first book in the Gothic canon, built upon works like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Challenging the rational framework of the Enlightenment era, these novels used imagery to explore mystery and terror. (Stacey Nguyen)

CBR lists '10 Old-School Zombie Movies That Are Still Awesome Today' including

This Early Zombie Film Is Still Controversial Today

I Walked With a Zombie (1943), dir. Jacques Tourneur

It is generally accepted that the cinematic zombie was born with 1932's White Zombie, in which Bela Lugosi uses voodoo to create Haitian slaves. However, Jacques Tourneur (Cat People) took the same theme and turned it into a controversial masterpiece that still divides viewers to this day. In I Walked With a Zombie, a naive nurse treats a plantation owner's mysteriously afflicted wife, and discovers that her employer has co-opted Caribbean voodoo practices for sinister purposes.

I Walked With a Zombie is partially based on the Charlotte Brontë novel Jane Eyre.

Tourneur's main zombie is the towering Carrefour (Darby Jones), whose eerie presence anchors this gothic drama. Some critics feel that the film calls attention to the plight of colonized Caribbeans, while others see it as merely reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Whichever side one takes in this debate — and both critiques may be true — I Walked With a Zombie is well worth a look. (Claire Donner)