I sat down at VanDance's The Raven ... and Other Mysterious Tales last weekend and was immediately struck by the atmosphere: eerie, Pure Moods-esque music wafted from a speaker; black tablecloths and gothic candelabras decorated the clusters of tables and a wooden coffin sat on the stage.

A minute later, the walkway was removed. In the red stage light, Edgar Allan Poe made his entrance.

"I am Poe. Edgar Allan Poe," he boomed, almost knocking me off my chair. "I welcome you to my world."

What followed was a series of visual interpretations of Poe's best-known works: "Shadow: A Parable," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Man of the Crowd," "Morella," "Annabel Lee," "The Raven" and "The Bells." Of these works, two were VanDance debuts: "Annabel Lee" and "Morella."

Each work was represented by dancers — the professional members of VanDance and guest artists from the Ballet Theater of Central Pennsylvania — performing mesmerizing choreography of Artistic Director Ann Van Kuren.

Van Kuren's choreography was expressive, very musical and practically hypnotic. All of her pieces were daring lifts and poses, intricate patterns and sequences. With "Annabel Lee," my favorite of the pas de deux, she blended the two dancers until their bodies were a single form.

"The Bells" seemed to be what Poe himself would have contrived from Balanchine's snowflakes or his little swans: blank faced girls in white floating across the stage, locking arms, whirling in lines. And Van Kuren's choreography for "The Man of the Crowd" looked like a haunted version of Gene Kelly's Singin' In the Rain.

The music, a beautiful score by Kim Fitch and Topher Yorks, was eerily appropriate.

The only disappointment might have been the dancing itself. Some of the dancers were talented and extremely musical, but only a few did justice to the brilliant choreography. Too many times I saw wobbling and poor dancing when I expected just the opposite. And much of the choreography was not dramatically difficult.

Call me hard to please — I felt the same disappointment after seeing New York City Ballet this past December.

But the complete performance was disturbingly beautiful. Even my boyfriend managed to keep his eyes open, which is more than I can say for Sleepless In Seattle.

If VanDance returns to State College, I would definitely recommend checking it out.