This weekend, a famous horseman will part ways with New England and descend on the Marshall Performing Arts Center on the UMD campus for the Minnesota Ballet production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Artistic Director Karl von Rabenau first began developing this particular staging and choreography during covid. "I was trying not to make it too dark," says von Rabenau. "I'm trying to balance the darkness of the headless horseman against some of the happier positive aspects of rural colonial life." The production includes the classic, haunting scenes from Washington Irving's original text as well as celebratory dances of a traditional harvest festival.
For the actual horse and rider, a costume was created to be moved by a person while maintaining an imposing visual image. "There's a human in there, and the human legs look like the horse legs as they're walking around," says von Rabenau. Jeff Brown of BrownKnows Design was behind the construction of the horseman that stands about 9 feet tall.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow runs October 30th through November 1st. The Friday show begins at 7pm, and the Saturday and Sunday shows start at 3pm. Tickets and more information can be found on the Minnesota Ballet website.
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