Transcen|Dance Project will debut a new immersive dance/theatrical event titled Ophis. The work takes the ancient Greek myth of Medusa and reimagines it for the modern day.
The key to the new story is that Medusa is no longer just the bitter victim of a curse, but a symbol of resilient empowerment. It’s a journey about love and vulnerability, and transformational self-discovery, and takes the stage from April 4 to 13.
The company was responsible for the well received productions of Eve of St. George and A Grimm Night, and like those productions, Ophis will take place on four levels of the atmospheric The Great Hall while the audience wanders in and out of the story.
As you enter, you’ll be assigned an area where your story will begin. The actors and dancers will perform the work around the audience, through richly decorated sets on each floor.
Ophis (which means serpent in Greek) includes an original score along with dance and performance, and opens on April 4, 2025.
We spoke to creator and company Artistic Director Julia Cratchley and composer Owen Belton about the production.
Ophis: The Interview
“It’s exciting to dive into a new world,” says Cratchley. Previous productions have revolved around the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm, and Stoker’s Dracula, both far removed from classical Greek mythology.
Ancient Greek mythology already comes with a wide range of interpretations over the centuries. Julia says Ophis is quite different from Transcen|Dance Project’s other productions. “It’s made it harder and easier,” she says. In the end, it also offered the opportunity for artistic freedom. “It’s so varied.”
Cratchley immersed herself in research of the time and period, as well as the various interpretations of the Medusa legend.
“I feel that this production is very different from very Grimm Night and Eve of St. George,” she says. That goes to both story and aesthetics. Grimm Night and Eve of St. George shared certain characteristics in an overlap of fantasy and goth.
“That being said, I don’t want to give too much away.”
The Music
By the time Julia contacted him last summer, Owen Belton knew the story he’d be writing music to.
Owen says the music has a contemporary feel, rather than being inspired by any historical period. “Somewhat similar to the previous two shows,” he says. “There’s a bit more voice in the score this time.”
Belton describes his influences as being all over the map, from pop music and bands like Radiohead to contemporary classical stars like Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, and Michael Nyman.
His electroacoustic music is atmospheric, the score alternating between melodic and rhythmically driven sections. “One of my teachers was Barry Truax,” he says. Truax, an electroacoustic composer and researcher, is considered a pioneer of granular synthesis.
Owen’s task is not only to provide music for the performance as it unfolds, but to weave it around the multiple ways that the same story is experienced across four floors.
“It’s one score throughout,” Belton explains. He’s devised it so that it can serve the purpose of everything that’s going on in the show at any given time — on each of its four floors, in other words. “It has to be somewhat flexible in some way,” he says. There are key moments where the music reacts in specific ways.
“Definitely on the first pass of the music, I’m focusing on the main story line,” Belton says.
“Sometimes we do have to go back and adjust,” Cratchley adds. That happens during rehearsals, when the music might be fine tuned to accommodate the various storylines as they unfold. “This is the beauty of having a composed score.”
A Medusa for the 21st Century
The original story of Ophis takes many familiar elements from the myths, books, and stories, adding its own distinctive stamp. “We start with Medusa as an immortal human,” Julia explains. The story takes her from before the curse that gave her a head of snakes to her emergence afterwards.
“But there are definitely elements that I’ve pulled from various interpretations,” Cratchley adds. “We’ve taken our own liberties to flesh her out as we want to.”
“It’s definitely a modern retelling. We’ve reimagined her as a symbol of power and resilience.”
Rather than revolving around destruction and vengeance, Medusa’s story is one of self-discovery. “We’re really trying to challenge those traditional narratives.” No more damsels in distress, in other words. “So far, how we’re creating Medusa, she has a lot of grit.”
The snake itself, the symbol she carries on her head, can be interpreted in various ways. “It’s interesting that she’s known as this monster, but she’s also known as a symbol of protection.”
The music follows the scenes and the action rather using character-based themes. Owen has a tip for the audience members who want to follow the story along.
“Listen for the voices, I’d say,” Belton explains. The vocals, he adds, help to drive the narrative. But, at times, a little mystery is what’s called for. “We’ve made it intentionally not always super clear, what’s being said. But, there are moments of clarity.”
- Find tickets and more information about the performances from April 4 to 13 [HERE].
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