Midsummer Scream 2024 Interview: LPBC and the Zombie Ballet

A group of young women and one man, dressed in bloody shabby clothing, reach across the stage in a graceful shamble (if such a thing is possible). They turn, moving to a standing position, left arm raised. They then crouch and continue the dance.

Such was part of the excerpt of Sweet Sorrow, a Zombie Ballet I witnessed as performed by the Leigh Purtill Ballet Company (LPBC) at this year’s Midsummer Scream. (You can see more photos from the excerpt on our Instagram.)

As part of my coverage of the convention, I talked to a couple of the performers about the company and the ballet.

“[The company is] all volunteer,” started Gwen Owens, dancer with the company as well as the treasurer on the board of directors. “The company itself – our mission is ballet for everyone. And that means that what we do is we strive to have the people who are on stage reflect the audience that’s in the room. So we’re very diverse.”

The dance company, based in La Cañada, California, was created specifically to encourage the idea that anyone and everyone can do ballet. It has about 30 members, some remote and some based in Los Angeles, according to Owens.

The non-profit has been around since 2017. Formed by dance instructor and choreographer Leigh Purtill, the zombie ballet was actually part of the original intent.

“The idea came from the artistic director. [She] in fact wrote Sweet Sorrow, a Zombie Ballet, which is our full-length ballet. It’s based on a story that she wrote. A sequel to Romeo and Juliet, and what happens to them after they die. And it’s just grown from there.”

I asked why zombies (as opposed to ghosts or some other supernatural entity). Fellow dancer Jen Marchain answered. “I think our artistic director had that vision from a long time ago with putting an interesting dance together involving zombies, and it just kind of evolved. So she was like ‘bring zombies into the fold’. It kind of started with that vision, and then it’s grown from there.”

I asked Owens what was next for the company. “We have other productions we’ve done. We’ve done previously a hotel, and it’s a hotel that travels through space, travels through time.” Titled Hotel at the End of the Universe, the troupe originally performed it in 2019.

“Then we’re going to do another one – a new ballet. It’s called The Circus of Worldly Wonders.” Taking place in 1885, the circus includes “mechanical swans, mesmerizing mermaids, hypnotic magicians and daring tightrope walkers will capture the hearts of all who are curious – and brave! – enough to attend,” according to the LPBC website.

“All of these are original ballets”, Owens continued. “These are all ones that Leigh Purtill has written the story for us and then she does all the choreography for us.”

I asked what about ballet draws Owens. “Oh, it’s wonderful,” she said. “Ballet is freeing, it’s a great way to move. Ballet speaks to my heart, speaks to my soul, speaks to who I am. It gets me moving. It makes me do better. It helps me realize there’s a lot I can do that I couldn’t have done.

“It affects everybody,” Owens went on. “It affects your mind: you have to use your head to use it. It affects your body: you have to use your body to use it. But it helps bring out creativity. It just is a wonderful form of movement.”

My wife, who was with me during the interview, asked what the difference was between adding steps for the undead versus a ‘regular’ dancer.

“Well, it’s all based in basic ballet and traditional ballet,” Owens said. “But what she does is she takes and molds the movement to create the character she wants. In Sweet Sorrow, a Zombie Ballet, you have a lot of creatures that are in it. You have spiders, and she has spiders that move in a certain way. You’re still using traditional ballet, but it’s the way you move, it’s the way you posture, the way it’s everything. So, they sort of step and move like the animal would move or the creature would move.”

The follow-up question was how much fusion the choreography had with modern dance.

“It’s maybe a little modern,” Owen said, “but it’s really ballet. I think the one thing we realized as a company is ballet’s a lot more than people know. A lot of different people can do it, a lot of different people can participate in it. And the way you move is traditional, but that’s not like very, very stiff. She makes it flow. She has to, because what you want to do is understand who that character is on the stage. You want to understand that that’s a spider; you want to understand that that’s a vampire. And you sort of emulate the creature.”

For more information on the Leigh Purtill Ballet Company, including trailers for the productions mentioned above, you can visit their website.

Author: Angie Fiedler Sutton

Angie Fiedler Sutton is a writer, podcaster, and all-round fangirl geek. She has been published in Den of Geek, Stage Directions, LA Weekly, The Mary Sue, and others.

She also produces her own podcast, Contents May Vary, where she interviews geeky people about geeky things. You can see all her work (and social media channels) at angiefsutton.com.

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