News: Watson and the Raw-Steel Goddess Robot
Royal Ballet principal dancer Edward Watson and artist Conrad Shawcross play a central part to Metamorphosis: Titian 2012, a collaboration between the Royal Ballet and the National Gallery involving seven choreographers, three composers, three artists and a full cast of dancers.
Luke Jennings finds out more,
“The project… was inspired by Titian’s paintings of the Roman goddess Diana. They tell the story of how Actaeon, while out hunting, discovered the goddess bathing and how in revenge she transformed him into a stag, to be torn apart by his dogs. In the ballet, Watson is a contemporary embodiment of Actaeon – “at least, that seems to be the starting point” – while Diana is represented by a technological representation of the goddess created by Shawcross.”
The choreography is by Wayne McGregor and Kim Brandstrup. Watson admits that the massive raw steel creation would be incredibly dangerous to dance with, therefore, “In the ballet, Watson’s moves will be “motion-captured” to enable him to dance with the entity.”
Read the full article in, Observer, 1 July 2012
Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 will be performed at the Royal Opera House 14-20 July as part of the London 2012 Festival
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