Authors: Samantha Marx, Jessa Wright, Nathan Dobbin
Mentors: Christa St John
Insitution: Utah Valley University
Goddess of Spring and Death(2023) is a dance for film co-created by three Utah Valley University undergraduates focusing on retelling of the Ancient Greek myth of Persephone and Hades through a new perspective. Throughout time, stories are often retold; however, this myth has rarely been told from Persephone’s point of view. With a collaboration between the two disciplines of ballet and film, there was opportunity for a more intimate viewing of narrative-based choreography with creative camerawork and post-production editing. The purpose of this presentation is to disseminate research from the dance for camera: Goddess of Spring and Death(2023) in addition to how this collaboration affected both disciplines. The traditional myth tells of the story of Hades kidnapping Persephone to the Underworld and marrying her, typically focusing on the actions of Hades and Demeter. However, the researchers’ collective focus of this narrative was to include Persephone’s agency. The narrative still follows a similar plot to the original myth however, Persephone’s character was more developed as she was given the agency to go into the Underworld and eat the pomegranate of her own free will. An unlikely format for this narrative, the respective areas of ballet and film have become a popular collaboration, especially post-COVID. Stereotypically, narrative ballets are commonly performed on a proscenium stage while film works with verbal narratives. Both disciplines were challenged to explore and collaborate together in a field that is not yet standard. The experience for all on the project, including the dancers and crew, was that of gaining new learning that can be applied in the post-graduate fields.