Dracula giving blood!? This isn't the vampire; it's the true-life Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler! At this lifepoint, he's in his early 20's and a VIP's guest. He is not yet into mass impalements or bloodshed.
The donor, Suzanne Muldowney, of Delran, New Jersey, has portrayed Dracula through interpretive dance, in historically authenticated costumes, since 1973.
It was the time of rediscovering Dracula's true story and times by historians Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally. Suzanne read their books and created four solo dances portraying both the real and imaginary Draculas, with more attention to the former. She learned about the period clothes, resulting, in four re-creations. Her first public Dracula performance was in Philadelphia in 1976 - the 500th anniversary of his death.
Following this debut, Suzanne continued to dance Dracula single-handed on stage and television in 19 states plus Montreal, Canada. In 1982 she created the Dracula Fashion Show, for modeling the costumes. Her greatest performance was in Los Angeles, in 1997- the 100th anniversary of the vampire novel. She did "The Dracula Archives" and the Dracula Fashion Show before the aforementioned historians-world authorities!
But ever since, especially with the historians deaths, Suzanne's appearances were rare. She never received a prestigious award, commendation, or citation for her work. She feared fading into oblivion and dying forgotten unlike other celebrated and perpetuated "Draculas." She always danced other themes, but they, too, have faded. Having seen a 1978 news photo of another "vampire" at a blood bank, Suzanne was inspired to make this first Dracula appearance since 2007!Suzanne Muldowney as Vlad The Impaler
Pictures from the Dracula fashion show
http://muldowneyville.tripod.com/vlad_dfashion.htm
Dance Dracula Dance...
An article written by Suzanne Muldowney
http://muldowneyville.tripod.com/ddancd.htm
Suzanne Performs Vlad the Impaler and Dracula the Vampire
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