The Widow's Broom sweeps into town
Festival Ballet brings Chris Van Allsburg's famous children's story to the stage just in time for Halloween
The Cowl - Arts & Entertainment
Issue: 10/28/04
By Anna Kukowski

Amidst the all-black patrons and the numerous pointy witches hats, The Widow's Broom made its world premiere with Providence's Festival Ballet at the VMA Arts and Cultural Center in downtown Prov-idence last Friday evening. Choreographer Victor Plotnikov set Chris Van Allsburg's famous children's book to flowy and creative movement, producing an entertaining, likable rendition of the magical story that warmed the hearts of many on crisp October evenings. Festival Ballet has started its season on a pleasant note, and there is certainly more to come.

Van Allsburg, author of children's favorites Jumanji and The Polar Express, wrote The Widow's Broom in 1992. Intrigued by its fairy-tale storyline, Festival Ballet Artistic Director Mihailo Djuric commissioned Boston Ballet veteran Plotnikov to produce choreography for the book's adaptation to stage. Aleksandra Vrebalov composed its score and Eugene Lee created its sets. Step by step, The Widow's Broom came to life on stage.

In The Widow's Broom, a weakened witch's broom falls from the sky. A widow (Leticia Guerrero) and her son (Emily Bromberg) find the forlorn broom and befriend it. Festival dancer Gleb Lymenkoff personifies the broom as it comes to life in the widow's house, but danger ensues when the townspeople become suspicious of the broom and try to burn it. Thank-fully, however, the towns-people burn the wrong broom, and our lovable friend survives. The ballet concludes with the widow, her son, and the broom happily dancing through the night.

Instead of Aurora and Clara's age-old, traditional ballet choreography, Plotnikov's choreography has a creative, contemporary spin. Pointe shoes and difficult turns are rarities in this production-instead, most of the ballet is performed with soft shoes and more free, flowy, limp movements are preferred. Plotnikov's desire to encapsulate contemporary ballet is evident in his choice of curved bodies, flexed feet, and planar movements. The movement is creative, interesting to watch, and friendly to family audiences, but it is rarely mind dazzling or overly thought-provoking.

The company amusingly portrays a band of witches in the beginning of the performance with sharp and jerky choreography. The dancers fly around an eerie, yellow full moon with their brooms and evoke laughs from the intent audience. The performance is weakened, however, as the company cannot stay together while performing the unique sets of movement. This problem is evident in large and small groups of dancers alike, and it drags down the caliber of performance.

Most notable and exciting is Guerrero and Lu-menkoff's final dance. The score breaks from its patterns of sharp, discordant music-which grow a little repetitive after almost two full acts-it instead grows and livens with the movements of the two talented dancers. Choreography reaches its own vital crescendo at this point. Unlike the other movement-which is very pleasant but one-dimensional-this last dance spruces up its timing, spacing, and movement to produce an exciting, refreshing ending that assures us everyone lives happily ever after.

Though The Widow's Broom ended Sunday, Oct. 24, this is only the beginning of the season at Festival Ballet. In December, the company performs its traditional run of The Nutcracker, full of all the sugar-plum fairies, dancing snowflakes, and dashing princes the Yuletide season can hold. From February 11-13, Festival Ballet will world premiere yet another production, Scheherazade/ Con Amore. Finally, April 8-10, the company will perform Carmen, a Festival favorite after last year's run.

Festival Ballet does not perform only these full-length productions. Another, more intimate showcasing of dance talent is its annual Up Close on Hope. Here, in a small and intimate black box theater, various choreographers create short works for the company to perform. It is a refreshing look at new chor-eography. The next showcase is Nov. 13-20, and the last is March 12-19. These performances are a wonderful opportunity to see new and innovative choreography by some of the area's most creative choreographers.

Producing a new and original full-length ballet is no small feat, and Plotnikov and his team have created a fun, family-oriented piece. In The Widow's Broom, choreography, music, and sets are completely new and original. This choreography has been learned, loved, and performed and it will be stored away for future Halloweens, chilly fall seasons, and later performances. In the meantime, stay tuned to Festival Ballet. It offers a night out on the town that is far from the ordinary and a nice change of pace.