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Growing up in Blue Ridge, Georgia, Georgia State Alumni JonahHooper said that his interest in dancing started at a very young age.
“ When I was 12 I took a couple of hip-hop and jazz classes. That got me interested,” Hooper said.
From then on, he continued to dance and he soon found himself in Louisville, Kentucky. There, he became a part of the Louisville Ballet and he danced with them for two years. However, after those two years, Hooper moved back to Atlanta to pursue a job with the Atlanta Ballet.
“I auditioned in different places and I was offered a contract with the Atlanta Ballet…It was a no brainer [to come back to Georgia],” Hooper said.
Moving back to Georgia was perfect for Hooper because his family and everything that he was accustomed to was here. Also, his wife who had been living in Louisville at the time made the moved with him. Recently, Hooper has been working with the Atlanta Ballet to bring their adaptation of the famous vampire tale “Dracula”to life, and he said the experience has been wonderful.
“The choreography by Michael Pink is amazing and the music score is great! It is a very close representation of the story…there is that elegant, yet grotesque feel of the 1800s,” Hooper said.
In the show, Hooper plays the lead role of Dracula, but he also plays the role of Arthur Godalming. Each character brings a different element to the show.
“ Arthur Godalming is a suitor to a lady named Lucy, but he loses Lucy because she is bitten and turned into a vampire. So, she has to be killed…Godalming is a rich and fun character to play,” Hooper said.
Dracula, on the other hand, brings a more mysterious presence to the stage.
“ The fun part [about playing Dracula] is that he is powerful and eccentric. No one is ever really sure what he is. He is smooth, cunning, devious, and controlling. There is a dark, eerie romanticism to him, and it’s fun to project that on stage. It’s great to have that freedom and to see how the audience responds to it,” Hooper said.
To prepare for each of these roles, Hooper takes steps similar many method actors.
“ I’ll watch shows, read literature, and read the book [that the play has been adapted from] multiple times. Then, I insert myself into the character,” Hooper said.
While Hooper loves to perform on stage, it is not his only favorite part.
“It is not just the performance, it’s every part of the process [including rehearsal]…It’s when you get that response from the audience from what you have been working so hard on,” Hooper said.
Hooper also, admitted that he does get nervous sometimes.
“Yeah, I do [get nervous]. It’s something that we all deal with, and there are good and bad ways to deal with it. Usually [when I get nervous] it is an excited nervous. If it is a worried nervous, then that is a whole different issue,” Hooper said.
Overall, Hooper said that his experience working with the Atlanta Ballet and with the “Dracula”show has been great.
“It’s been amazing. This is the second time that I’ve played this role, and it’s just a wonderful experience…I hope that the people who come to the show [also] take away a good experience. I hope that they feel like they really got to see Dracula.”.
In the future, Hooper plans to look for some summer internships, but he also wants to dive into another area of business.
“When I was at Georgia State I studied Business and Finance. I want to combine my knowledge of business and finance with my knowledge of the arts,” Hooper said.
There is no official date for when Hooper plans to do this, but until then, Hooper plans to continue dancing and performing.
