Macabre Danse
@macabredanse.bsky.social
A research project looking at ways in which dance and the Gothic intersect, beginning with ballet.
Run by Kaja Franck, Karen Graham and Kate Harvey
Website: https://gothicballet.wordpress.com/about-danse-macabre/
Run by Kaja Franck, Karen Graham and Kate Harvey
Website: https://gothicballet.wordpress.com/about-danse-macabre/
Written for Tim Burton's Wednesday (Series 2), Gaga leans in to the uncanny valley of the doll. Her make-up and movement exaggerate the desire of the male gaze, but at the exploitation of feminine expression. Death should repulse but instead appeals to the masculine
a black and white photo of a woman in a dress dancing in front of a group of people .
ALT: a black and white photo of a woman in a dress dancing in front of a group of people .
media.tenor.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Written for Tim Burton's Wednesday (Series 2), Gaga leans in to the uncanny valley of the doll. Her make-up and movement exaggerate the desire of the male gaze, but at the exploitation of feminine expression. Death should repulse but instead appeals to the masculine
He wrote in his biography that he was inspired by a vision of pagan rite which ended in sacrifice.
Pic: Joffrey Ballet, 1987. This verion drew on Nicholas Roerich's original costumes. You can find a link to excerpts of the Joffrey Ballet version here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo4s...
Pic: Joffrey Ballet, 1987. This verion drew on Nicholas Roerich's original costumes. You can find a link to excerpts of the Joffrey Ballet version here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo4s...
October 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM
He wrote in his biography that he was inspired by a vision of pagan rite which ended in sacrifice.
Pic: Joffrey Ballet, 1987. This verion drew on Nicholas Roerich's original costumes. You can find a link to excerpts of the Joffrey Ballet version here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo4s...
Pic: Joffrey Ballet, 1987. This verion drew on Nicholas Roerich's original costumes. You can find a link to excerpts of the Joffrey Ballet version here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo4s...
The girl, the Chosen One, dances to her death in the final Sacrifical Dance section. Stravinsky's masterpiece drove audiences to near riots when it premiered.
Pic: Phoenix Dance Theatre’s eight Company Dancers, choreographed by Jeanguy Saintus, drawing on Haitian beliefs, 2019.
Pic: Phoenix Dance Theatre’s eight Company Dancers, choreographed by Jeanguy Saintus, drawing on Haitian beliefs, 2019.
October 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM
The girl, the Chosen One, dances to her death in the final Sacrifical Dance section. Stravinsky's masterpiece drove audiences to near riots when it premiered.
Pic: Phoenix Dance Theatre’s eight Company Dancers, choreographed by Jeanguy Saintus, drawing on Haitian beliefs, 2019.
Pic: Phoenix Dance Theatre’s eight Company Dancers, choreographed by Jeanguy Saintus, drawing on Haitian beliefs, 2019.
Modern versions tend to combine this artistic expression with more technical choreography, but this performance by Ossipova for The Royal Ballet Live showcases Fokine's original vision
youtu.be/kJ4uowripdw?...
youtu.be/kJ4uowripdw?...
The Dying Swan – Natalia Osipova (The Royal Ballet)
YouTube video by Royal Ballet and Opera
youtu.be
October 30, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Modern versions tend to combine this artistic expression with more technical choreography, but this performance by Ossipova for The Royal Ballet Live showcases Fokine's original vision
youtu.be/kJ4uowripdw?...
youtu.be/kJ4uowripdw?...
It is not a ballet preoccupied with recreating the movment of a swan, it is instead an extended meditation on death and dying. Reportedly when Anna Pavlova was lying on her deathbed, her last words were, “get my Swan costume ready.”
October 30, 2025 at 7:22 AM
It is not a ballet preoccupied with recreating the movment of a swan, it is instead an extended meditation on death and dying. Reportedly when Anna Pavlova was lying on her deathbed, her last words were, “get my Swan costume ready.”
The original choreography emphasised artistic expression over technical complexity.
youtu.be/tkFSBkl9mmo?...
youtu.be/tkFSBkl9mmo?...
Anna Pavlova as The Swan
YouTube video by Amy Growcott
youtu.be
October 30, 2025 at 7:22 AM
The original choreography emphasised artistic expression over technical complexity.
youtu.be/tkFSBkl9mmo?...
youtu.be/tkFSBkl9mmo?...
Originally tited The Swan, it was choreographed for Anna Pavlova by Mikhail Fokine. Set to to Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Cygne from Le Carnaval des animaux that follows the last moments of a dying swan.
October 30, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Originally tited The Swan, it was choreographed for Anna Pavlova by Mikhail Fokine. Set to to Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Cygne from Le Carnaval des animaux that follows the last moments of a dying swan.
If you'd like to know how these Dancing Dead Girls (and Boys) work, you can check out this explanation
youtu.be/Dx-_SYsjwJk?...
youtu.be/Dx-_SYsjwJk?...
The Haunted Mansion - HOW IT WORKS
YouTube video by Amusement Labs
youtu.be
October 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
If you'd like to know how these Dancing Dead Girls (and Boys) work, you can check out this explanation
youtu.be/Dx-_SYsjwJk?...
youtu.be/Dx-_SYsjwJk?...
More recently, the Waltzing Dead have escaped their abode and joined Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party parade. youtu.be/SIKfnZbXZbs?...
Mickey's Boo to You Halloween Parade 2025 Full Show in 4K | Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World Florida
YouTube video by 4K WDW
youtu.be
October 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
More recently, the Waltzing Dead have escaped their abode and joined Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party parade. youtu.be/SIKfnZbXZbs?...
The guests in their Doom Buggies look down on the ghostly birthday party as the spirits dance through the furniture and walls to the sound of the organ, played by another ghost
October 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The guests in their Doom Buggies look down on the ghostly birthday party as the spirits dance through the furniture and walls to the sound of the organ, played by another ghost
The Waltzing Dead are part of the biggest practical effect in the Haunted Mansion attraction and its counterparts at Disney parks across the world.
October 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The Waltzing Dead are part of the biggest practical effect in the Haunted Mansion attraction and its counterparts at Disney parks across the world.
The meta nods to the vampire genre all come together with the father's reveal, and this is one to add to the Halloween watchlists!
October 28, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The meta nods to the vampire genre all come together with the father's reveal, and this is one to add to the Halloween watchlists!
The second dancing dead girl featured in the film is up and coming Scream Queen Kathryn Newton, who is bitten and turned, and dances like a marionette whilst under Abigail's thrall, before meeting her grisly final end
October 28, 2025 at 9:33 AM
The second dancing dead girl featured in the film is up and coming Scream Queen Kathryn Newton, who is bitten and turned, and dances like a marionette whilst under Abigail's thrall, before meeting her grisly final end
This is a child vampire that hunts them down one by one inside the hostage house. Abigail is played by Alisha Weir, fresh off playing Matilda, and dances with gruesome delight throughout the movie
October 28, 2025 at 9:31 AM
This is a child vampire that hunts them down one by one inside the hostage house. Abigail is played by Alisha Weir, fresh off playing Matilda, and dances with gruesome delight throughout the movie
Bruce created the ballet "for the innocent people of South America, who from the time of the Spanish Conquests have been continuously devastated by political oppression."
youtu.be/fgh13vsc1jU?...
youtu.be/fgh13vsc1jU?...
Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dances - Queensland Ballet's Raw 2017
YouTube video by Queensland Ballet
youtu.be
October 27, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Bruce created the ballet "for the innocent people of South America, who from the time of the Spanish Conquests have been continuously devastated by political oppression."
youtu.be/fgh13vsc1jU?...
youtu.be/fgh13vsc1jU?...
Ghost Dances is a one-act dance work in which three skeletal Ghost Dancers await a group of Dead who will re-enact moments from their lives before passing on. The dishevelled appearance of the Dead suggests ordinary people who have been through trauma.
October 27, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Ghost Dances is a one-act dance work in which three skeletal Ghost Dancers await a group of Dead who will re-enact moments from their lives before passing on. The dishevelled appearance of the Dead suggests ordinary people who have been through trauma.
The Dead are five women and three men who throughout the work experience contrasting forms of death.
October 27, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The Dead are five women and three men who throughout the work experience contrasting forms of death.
Those in the UK can watch the whole ballet on BBC iplayer.
Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ty2k
Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ty2k
Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty
New Adventures' innovative dance performance recorded live on stage. Set in a world of fairies and vampires, the timeless tale of good v evil is turned upside down.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Those in the UK can watch the whole ballet on BBC iplayer.
Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ty2k
Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ty2k
Her dancing is at times sluggish, at others frantic and very Giselle like in the staging and choreography. She does eventually succumb to the effects of the Rose and collapse.
October 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Her dancing is at times sluggish, at others frantic and very Giselle like in the staging and choreography. She does eventually succumb to the effects of the Rose and collapse.