What’s a little nibble among friends?  Valentine’s Day can be a day of extremes: soar on saccharine bliss or wish you could punch the next smiling person you see without having charges pressed against you. But this year the moderate has a voice, and that voice is demanding blood.

The Atlanta Ballet’s choice for their 2009 Valentine’s Day weekend production is none other than the immortal Dracula. They’re not quite cuddly, but vampires have become a kind of not-so-guilty pleasure for the darker romantics among us, as the overwhelming popularity of the Twilight series has demonstrated. Because of the Edward Cullens of the world, the supernatural blood-suckers now seem so loving that they are fodder for teen soap operas.

“Any story that is sensual has its romantic qualities,” says Artistic Director John McFall. “Romance can be represented in all kinds of ways. Different cultures have different customs, and Dracula sure has his own.”

Anyone who has read the Bram Stoker novel can tell you that the dark Count may be fascinating in a perverse sort of way, but he’s not exactly going to buy you flowers on the most romantic day of the year. Don’t let the tights fool you. While it is a sort of a romance, the Atlanta Ballet’s version of Dracula keeps the edge on the classic story.

Dracula, featuring choreography by Michael Pink and music by Philip Feeney, first appeared on the Atlanta stage five years ago. Back by popular demand, this year’s production will be accompanied live by the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. Howling and heartbeats accompany Feeney’s haunting score as Bram Stoker’s tale gracefully bounds across the stage.

Jonathan Harker is a painfully naïve solicitor who travels to Transylvania to assist with the property purchase of a mysterious Count Dracula. There he meets, and kind of unwillingly satisfies, some nocturnal appetites. When Dracula shows up in England after Harker’s return, even the young man’s beautiful fiancée Mina is not safe from the vampire’s snare.

“Theatrically, Dracula translates wonderfully into a ballet” says McFall. “Dracula is not about talking. It’s about doing.”

Attending a Dracula ballet may not be the most traditional way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but if you’re looking for something a little less schmaltzy and a little more salacious, then maybe vampires are just what you need. You and your date/blood donor can even round out the evening with a night of “languorous ecstasy,” if the website offering South City Kitchen Vinings’ Dracula dinner packages lives up to its promise.

“Sensuality, blood-lust, are notable themes in Dracula,” says McFall.  “Many people do much more than just give each other boxes of chocolates.” Do I sense a hint of a euphemism lurking in a dark corner? After all, what is all that biting if not a thinly veiled reference to carnality? McFall has his own way of putting it: “As his fangs near your throat, he just murmurs with delight.”

The ballet will have 8 performances from February 5-15th. For more information, visit www.atlantaballet.com.