The St. Paul Snowblower Ballet

The beauty of falling snow has inspired artists ranging from poet Robert Frost to painter Pieter Bruegel.

But what about the aesthetic value in getting rid of the stuff?

Plowing, shoveling and blowing snow is a winter nuisance for those of us in the North.  I’m planning to create a new perspective on that chilly chore with a joyful, fun and uniquely Minnesotan public art performance that is a winner of a Knight Foundation Arts Challenge grant.

Imagine a snow-covered space on the banks of the Mississippi River with a view of the downtown St. Paul skyline. A live orchestra begins to play ballet music, punctuated by the sound of engines being started.

The dancers move onto the venue, pushing snowblowers in precise formations, pivoting and wheeling, describing symmetrical patterns in the snow, the white powder being thrown into the air in coordinated arcs. Shovelers join in by pitching the snow in time with the music.

Think of the geometric patterns of a Busby Berkeley or Esther Williams spectacle. Only a lot colder.

The St. Paul Snowblower Ballet will come to Harriet island in St. Paul on the Sunday before Super Sunday 2018 as part of the Winter Carnival.

A live local audience will watch the free performance, but we aim to attract a potential worldwide audience with an online video, which we plan to film from above with a drone.

The project will be produced in partnership with the St. Paul Ballet and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and thanks to a grant award from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge, which funds ideas that engage and enrich St. Paul through the arts.