In swan song, ballerina finally gets a dark role

DULUTH - In the second act of the Minnesota Ballet's "Dracula," the once-sweet Lucy rises from the grave. First a hand, fingers bent to a bony claw, shoots up from the ground. Then she oozes to life, slowly and deliberately, shedding the coffin and hungry for the blood of children.

It's a long-awaited evil role for Suzanne Kritzberg, who has spent her career playing nice and wholesome, the princesses and the fairies. It's the curse of the principal dancer that the principal role is always a good girl. Kritzberg was Giselle, but wanted to be Myrta. She wanted to be the witch, but has been the Sugarplum Fairy.

Artistic director Robert Gardner is unknowingly making good on a promise made by his predecessor Allen Fields: Before she retired, Kritzberg would get to play the dark character. Here, in her final season as a dancer, she is.

"It's really fun," Kritzberg said. "I never get to be the creepy one. It's fun to get down and dirty and be mean to people."

After the 2011-12 season Kritzberg plans to go to law school, but still keep a toe in Duluth. She has a house there and hopes to pick up summer teaching gigs.

Kritzberg, 41, said she feels like she is at the right age to start a new career path. It makes it easier that she has confidence in the direction of the Minnesota Ballet.

"The company is in a pretty good place and they don't need me," she said.

Gardner, who came on as ballet master and choreographer in 1992, remembers the first time he saw her dance.

"I couldn't take my eyes off of her," he said. "She was feminine and beautiful with beautiful lines -- strong and eager and a willing mind about working."

Almost immediately Kritzberg became the star of the show and decided she was in it for the long haul. She found a fit with the company and opportunities she wouldn't have had in a larger city. Plus she liked Duluth's artistic community. "I decided I would be a fool to leave," Kritzberg said.

In 22 seasons Kritzberg has become the face of the company as a dancer, a teacher and representative. It adds up to the kind of Duluth celebrity that makes it tricky to anonymously cruise through a grocery store.