Salmacis (R&D)

Through newly composed music, movement and dance, we explore Ovid’s retelling of the story of Salmacis through the feminist lens. We examine how the water nymph, who embodies dichotomous and complex understandings of womanhood, is embroiled in a story of anxiety of female power, ultimately punished for her masculine traits.

Artistic team:

Effy Efthymiou COMPOSITION

Jessica Summers SOPRANO

Harriet Parker-Beldeau DANCE/CHOREOGRAPHY

Mark Walkem CELLO

Our first phase of R&D was generously supported by UKRI. 

Research and Development

The first phase of R&D, supported by UK Research and Innovation, involved a series of making workshops with the artistic team:

Effy Efthymiou COMPOSITION

Jessica Summers SOPRANO

Harriet Parker-Beldeau DANCE/CHOREOGRAPHY

Mark Walkem CELLO

During this phase, we explored the musico-dramatic possibilities of the story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, including creative staging, choreographed movement, new music, libretto and the incorporation of a 'Grecian' aesthetic.

 

As she crushes her breasts and face against him and clings to him as with every inch of her surface. ‘It’s no good struggling,’ she hisses. ‘You can strain, wrestle, squirm, but cannot ever get away from me now.
- Ted Hughes, ‘Salmacis and Hermaphroditus’, Tales from Ovid.