Vampires are getting old. The most ethereal creatures haunting cinemas this season are ballet dancers.

Today, the Venice Film Festival opens with "Black Swan," a ballet-themed thriller starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, directed by Darren Aronsofsky ("The Wrestler"). It opens nationwide in December.

Opening at Plaza Frontenac on Friday is "Mao's Last Dancer," the true story of Li Cunxin, an impoverished Chinese boy who defected while visited America and became a ballet star.

For the next three weekends, Webster University will be presenting ballet films. The classic "The Red Shoes" screens this Fri.-Sun. at 7:30 p.m., followed by the documentaries "Only When I Dance" (about Brazilian ballerinas), Sept. 10-12; and "Breath Made Visible" (about dancer Anna Halprin), Sept. 17-19.

(And the recent art-house hit "Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky" opened with a re-creaton of the scandalous ballet "The Rite of Spring," which incited a riot at its 1913 premiere in Paris.)

There are tutu many of these movies to be a coincidence, but figuring out what it all means will keep me on my toes.