Metamorphosis 2012 - Diana and Actaeon continued...

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-ballets

The next section begins with Diana and Actaeon alone, and it shows the part of the story which Diana scoops up some water and throws it at Actaeon to transform him into a stag, this part is portrayed by Diana cradling her arms and walking over to Actaeon and goes into an attitude derriere, whilst Actaeon covers his eyes and the tension builds once more when Diana shows as if she is controlling him as he gets closer to the ground as her arm goes down. Her stance as this point shows that she is the dominant one and that he should be bowing to her. This section shows Actaeon in his purple costume that would be seen as an everyday outfit, this changes in the next scene.






In the next scene, Diana summons her nymphs who surround Actaeon and as Diana slowly walks forward shows that she is in control now. The set has changed from being in the day time with a glowing orange Sun, to night time and small pockets of light shining through as stars, this shows the time progression in the story. The nymphs and Diana move to reveal the stag, who is now in a long-sleeved costume.

The next section shows Actaeons dogs find him whilst he is a stag, and kill him. This begins at 8:58. The costumes are different for this section to show that the dancers are dogs they are holding a prop of a dogs head instead of having them on the dancers shoulders and heads, this makes the dog heads much more mobile. The costumes are a variation of black and white, this gives a contrast to the set and costumes that was before due to the vibrant colours. The dancers surround Actaeon, and have the heads close to the centre, and pull away before being joined by more dogs. Actaeon slowly faills to the ground and lies on the floor, which shows that his dogs have killed him. The fact they surround him also gives the feeling of anxiety and fear without being able to escape.

To show that the dogs are howling afterwards the dancers reach their arms up. This section ends with a view of Diana at downstage right looking upstage, there are two spotlights on the Actaeon and Diana, the stage is pitch black which as it suggests the darkness of the story and that it is sinister, this goes along with the fiery red costume of Diana.

Metamorphosis 2012 - Diana and Actaeon dance and costume analysis

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-ballets

 

 

This part begins at 6:44s. This shows the confrontation of Diana and Actaeon, throughout this section it is clear that there is a lot of tension and it is a dramatic piece, this is shown through the colours of the set and costumes as well as the energetic and sharp, forceful movements. The costume and set have very vivid and flat colours to make them more bold. The costumes are reflective of this for each different character, but keep to the same colour scheme as the backdrop. The very vivid red colour of Diana's costume and hair reflect the anger in which Actaeon has made her and with the gold on her costume represents the lightening-feel and the gold of her crown seen in the painting.


The use of diaganols and separation of people gives the audience a sense of division and status, Actaeon is on the downstage left, looking upstage to Diana who is surrounded by nymphs. This is most likely suggesting that the Actaeon is the more dominant one at this point because he does not seem to be hiding and is on the left which is how we read. However it could also suggest that Diana is the more dominant one due to the levels used by Diana being upstage rather than downstage. Diana moves her way forward with the body-language as if she is in charge and telling the nymphs not to get involved.

 As the confrontation starts the nymphs cower away, as to not be involved between this. Diana shows her agression at 7:10s by forcefully pushing Actaeon by holding his wrists together so that he cannot escape which causing her to bend forward and keeping eye-contact shows the focus of how angry Diana is.

Whenever Actaeon lifts Diana, there is no eye contact, and she looks away or above from him, which makes it hard to establish an emotional connection between these characters and shows that there is tension between them. The lifts that are performed are not traditional pas de deux moves, and involve alot of holidng the torso of the female dancer whilst she kicks her legs in the air, these lifts show that the characters are not in an much harmony or gracefulness as if it was a love-duet.

Metamorphosis 2012 - Trepass continued...

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-ballets

This section at 4:41, which shows the the lighting much brighter than the previous section in downstage which highlights the two main characters. There is alot going on in this section in which there are different lines of dancers which creates layering which reflects the layers of paint used on the canvas as well as the many people involved in the scene. This section is more energetic and urgent that previous sections which suggests the embarressment of being caught by Acetaeon. For the first seven seconds of this performance the two main people stay in unison, whilst the people in the background are doing one of the moves in unison with each other but at a slower pace than the couple. The people in the background are slowly moving from left to right, and then right to left whilst the front couple take their time to move from left to the right of the stage, which suggests to the eye contact which is exchanged in the painting between the characters, it could also be the direction of the paint strokes. This section continues to concentrate on pas de deux which shows the connection between Diana and Acetaeon.

 It also involves a similar spin like the previous section which involves jaunty angles, however this is much faster.








This is the spin from the previous section of Trepass.

At 5:09 another section begins which tells the side of the story of Diana and her nymphs only. This is portrayed through the dancers being all female and positioned very close together as if protecting & adoring the middle female. They are all using their hands which are on show, one female is covering the eyes of the middle female.

The last section of Trepass begins at 5:30. The set is the lead female in the middle with a spotlight on her and the rest of the stage in darkness; the mirrors are still in the same position as from the start. The lead female is surrounded by the other female dancers who are in a semi-circle. There is also a male reflection in the mirror which is in a quite dominant stance whereas the female is crouched on the floor looking vulnerable, which represents Diana and Acetaeon for a split second that Acetaeon is more dominant. The lead female looks around the stage, and the overall atmosphere of this scene is dark and sinister compared to the more upbeat previous section. At 6:00 minutes, the male reappears in a more dominant and more intimidating stance, whilst the female does a back bend to reach the floor and then lift one of her legs up, to which she goes en pointe and continues to stay on the floor into another back bend.

This section suggests the pain and awkwardness of turning into a stag which Acetaeon feels, which may have been the payback for walking in on Diana and her nymphs. This section shows Diana at her most vulnerable as everything is watching her.

 

Metamorphosis 2012 - Machina continued...

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-ballets

The next section at 1:40s consists of a trio, two males and a female dancer. Throughout the dance the female dancer is assisted in jumps and lifts and is thrown across from both the male dancers. The female appears to be the main focus and is always in contact with one of the males if not both, this suggests that she is the more dominant role. Overall this dance is very energetic, this comes across by the dynamics of the movements being quite fast, the energy comes across as well when the female dancer is being thrown quite high. At the begining of the section there is very little solo for the female dancer, and there is balancing from the two males and the female on the other side such as the throw at 1:41 with the females awkwardly angled legs into the carry and side-lunge, into another awkward double bent-knee jump so that this makes the shapes of the legs sharper to make it seem more dangerous than previous scene as well as in keeping of the energy. One of the males carries the female from one side to the side of the stage to the other and instead of being carried by her torso and a straight leg, she is being carried by a bent leg whilst pointing a leg out into a ronde de jambe which is similar to the limb of the robot moving in a salutation motion, the male dancer places her foot on the ground with her facing to the floor, which is also similar to the focus of the robot looking down. The female dancer is assisted much throughout the dance is carried around by both males horizontally as if she were on a side-crucifix which makes her look either submissive or that she is god-like and is draped whilst being worshipped.

 This is followed by the next vertical hold with her arms held high which uses levels to show status and shows that she is the more dominant one even though she is more fragile than the two men. Through this section the female has her legs next to each other and her arms out as if reflecting the 3 legs of the robot on its tripod base. The female is being taken from one physical level to another which shows the rise and fall of the power of Diana in the way that she is exposed when Acetaeon finds her.
 

The next part is of a male dancer carrying the female in a double-stag position and her leaning out whilst being spun around, at the same time another male dancer is doing a form of spin with his leg bent and arms curved which keeps the similar to the jaggedness of the females legs. This is a rare point when all dancers are in unison even though at different speeds. This leads into a series of lifts, which get slightly higher each time; the solo male runs towards the other two which shows the urgency as if Diana is not allowed to touch the floor herself which could suggest the God-status.

The solo section of one of the males involves running around the stage which shows the agility of the hunter Acetaeon. The movements are short and fast which shows the attack and strength of the movement and the dancer. The costume of this male is the same throughout Machina, and is shirtless with only leggings which shows off the muscles of the dancer. This dance also carries on with the awkward angles and positions such as at 2:17s there is an inward turn with the arms at the opposite hip. The robot Diana in this has no light, which essentially shows the vulnerability of this role and makes the male dancer more dominant which is shown in his strong-attacked and sharp moves. At 2:20 the dancer reaches above and exposes his core area which shows the vulnerability Diana still has over him.
This piece uses circular and 'slinky' like movements which kind of shows snake-like nature (2:20) of Acetaeon in how he suddenly crept into the place where Diana and her nymphs are, it also shows the movement of the curtain being drawn back. After this part it continues to show the attack and how dominant the male character is by his arms spread out and looks like a bird of prey; this is also shown with a jump that seems intimidating and prey-stalking like at 2:29/30. It also continues the isolation in the very first section and the jaunty angles of the second section at 2:27 and the many chenee turns of the first section for the ending of this part and another bird-esque pose at the end. This section shows the power and dominance of the character of Acetaeon.

The next section at 2:30, is a duo which takes a more romantic side to the Greek story based in Titians painting. It covers the hidden/invisible sexual tension that Acetaeon and Diana, what makes it more intimate is that there are only two dancers which have each others attention rather than the previous trio which made it difficult to establish which was the more dominant male. The begining of this section shows both dancers, rather than the male presenting the female in various lifts. This show

s off the males strength in the way that the dancers are flowing and controlled movements as well as being able to hold the female dancer at difficult angles (2;47-9). These lifts also shows the trust between the dancers in the lifts especially of the female to the male. This also continues the sharp knee-angles seen in the previous trio. At 2:53 it shows the dancers facing each other, and only the palm of their hands touching which ironically emphasises the sensual and sexual tension by having the least amount of bodily contact, the next part shows a kind of melting motion which adds to the sensualness and the male slowly lowers the female which shows that she is at the more vulnerable. This part also resembles the movement of the robot and how there are different joints of the robots limbs. It also continues the likeness of the robots limbs in how the female has her legs out and pointed in the lifts that she does with the male. The next part shows different diagnals via the use of the females legs which also links to the limbs of the robot and the tripod base. It also relates to the composition of the painting and how the diagnals are between Diana and Acetaeon and the curtain to the nymphs. After 3:10 there is a serious of body ripples/waves which could connotate the movement of the brush marks made by Titian in the painting which can also be seen in the series of the turns and lifts that end this section.

Metamorphosis: dance + costume analysis; Trespass

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-ballets

This section begins at 3:30s. At first I believed this section to be the turning of the stag, however having watched it after a period of not watching it, it came to me that this is most likely Diana and her nymphs, which also links to the title of Trespass as this would be when Acetaeon comes across Diana. The costume of the dancers are very close to skin-tone and nude which also gives the effect that they are meant to be naked, the female dancers costumes have diamond shapes on which have a cresecent moon in the middle of each diamond, this is Diana's symbol. The set is bare with only divider that has mirrors on one side and is in at the back and centre.

This section begins with eight dancers of which there are mostly male & one female , running in and creating a semi-circle on the stage, they all end up with their backs on the floor and legs straight up in the air after a canon of pirouettes and ponche's to the floor, this effect makes the viewers eyes sweep from the right to the left. They stay on the floor tensed until everyone has completed the canon, then they relaxed and bend the knees to their chests and keep their feet flexed rather than pointed which gives the angles of stags antlers and legs.

The next section begins at 3:46s with a solo male running around from the right sweeping his arm out as he circles to the right where a solo female appears to join him. They continue many running and split leaps which gives the impression of deer jumping and running.

They come to the middle to which the male stands behind the female and covers her eyes over, this could represent the fact that Acetaeon should have not seen Diana naked, throughout this phrasing the male swaps his hands over and the female rises en pointe however still keeps her eyes covered.

 

They enter a difficult and jaunty 180 degree turn which the female has her leg on the males shoulders however she is leaning backwards and the male is standing up straight as he turns her by holding her hands in a wide position, this can also relate to the angles of which Diana is looking at Acetaeon in the painting. They continue to a pose which the female and male are facing the opposite way, the female is at a 90 degree angle from her hips and en pointe with her arms stretched out and the male is stood behind her supporting her hips, and his arm is pointing the opposite direction. This section is very slow and controlled with contrasts with the next section.

Metamorphosis dance + costume analysis - Machina

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-ballets

These are the only dance exerpts I can find about the dances as they were not recorded as such during the performances. It was played live on screens across the country during Summer 2012.

The performance is set up in three different stages - Machina, Trepass and Diana Acetaeon. I have tried to relate them to each of the individual paintings, but found that they are all very similar story in that they relate to Diana Acetaeon. However as there is a dance already called this, I thought that the other two had to be The Death of Acetaeon and Diana and Caillisto. When watching the dances Trepass shows more stag like actions compared to the other sections which suggests more relation to The Death of Acetaeon.

Machina
So named as there is a huge robot-like machine in the background. It is meant to be a representation of the goddess Diana. It shows the vulnerableness of Diana when the light at the end of its one arm is out, and slowly becomes stronger throughout the section, as well as the robot becoming more prominant in the background rather than faded and hidden away behind a curtain. The dancers don't seem to have a specific role as you'd expect, this is particularly confusing as Diana is in robot-form. I believe the female dancers to be Diana's nymphs and the male a form of Acetaeon.

The first couple of seconds of this excerpt shows quite harsh and angry movements shown by the strength in the arms and speed/force at which the dancers spin, which ends with the male on his stomach diagonally towards, looking up at the female dancer, this shows that the female is more dominant, and shows status with her arms above her head and looking down at the male with her left leg extended shows a triangle which is similar to the painting.

There is repetition of the the turning and ending in the extended leg, with the male on the floor. The third repetition ends with the motif of the leg at normal standing position and the male standing, this time the female has her arm extended towards the male. they swap places in which the female follows her arm keeping pointed towards the male and keeps eye contact, this gives the impression that she is the more dominant one and is forceful towards the male who does not walk as fast and essentially gets intimidated and gets pushed to the back. The female does force him backwards with a shove, and find that this section shows that this is one of her nymphs trying to protect Diana.






The next part of Machina (beginning at 0:42s) has a different tone to the first part, because it is much smoother, controlled and flowing (such as the slow gentle step backwards into a controlled pirouette) than the first part which is more brash and harsh movements. In the cinematography there is no showing of the machine, and only the dancers, this suggests that the machine does not do anything in this scene which implies it could be at the beginning of the performance because Diana is at the most vulnerable, the machine is lit behind a curtain which gives a haunting atmostphere. Instead I find that the female dancer uses movements which is similar to the robot, such as the isolation of the hips and circiling the arms around the head in the same way the machine swivels.

 The eye direction is different to the first section where as the female is looking down, and seems to be being controlled by the male, and being manipulated, this is shown when the female dancer lands on the floor and creates a tri-point on the floor by kneeling on one leg and extending the other to the left. Throughout the male only watches her, and at this point that she's kneeling he goes behind her and they both have their arms out in second (he is looming over her), as hers come into first, he brings his right hand to downstage and follows the female dancers head as she circles around and stands up as if he is controlling her, which The female dancer continues to do a solo across the left of the stage which consists of many turns, such as attitude turns, step-turns and isolation from the hips and swivels which reflects the nature of the machine & is seeming to be in human form at this point of the section. In an arabesque turn the leg is extended t the back, rather than being bent at the knee which is similar to the one long limb of the machine.

There is also rotation from the knee and shins like a ronde de jambe en lair before a pose attitude turn into a position which uses a lot of rotation and the hips and shoulders, which continues with the theme of rotation. When the female continues into a simple curew with arms above the head in fifth, the females head and back in facing the male whilst he walks around her which suggests a shyness of the character. Throughout the dance the female has her face facing away from the male, and does not essentially acknowledge him until the near end when he turns her whilst she does a pencil turn, and it appears as if he stops controlling her as she stops still looks slightly back towards him, whilst his arm is held out towards her. She walks downstage, and is met by two other males, who carry her off, which suggests she is free from the original male.

Metamorphosis 2012

For research I've found many videos which show the dance rehearsals and Mark Wallinger and Chris Ofili created the backdrops for the performance. I have also found out that it was in London just recently however was not able to get to see it first hand which I think is really gutting because it would've been really good to see as I'm researching it.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/metamorphosis-titian-2012

Also finding out that Mark Wallinger is involved in it is also good because I had looked at his piece of Diana based on Titians Diana, for my summer project because of his exhibition in the BALTIC, Gateshead.
The whole piece of Metamorphosis was brought together by choreographers, poets and contemporary artists. Based from three paintings which had come from an even greater body of works by Titian which altogether show and reenacts scenes from Metamorphoses across large canvases. Metamorphoses being a poem written  by a Roman poet Ovid. The whole theme for Titian and Ovid is change.