Macabre Danse

YouTube video by TheBalletTapes La Sonnambula

It ends in tragedy, as it so often does, as the poet lies stabbed and unconscious by the end of the ballet. Though only to be welcomed to the land of dreamers by his love. It can be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXN...

A love story between a poet and sleepwalker, the narrative blurs the line between sleep and death, as the sonnambula appears ghost-like in a Gothic white dress.

Day 8 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and we wonder 'to sleep, perchance to dream' (Hamlet, 3:1) with 'La Sonnambula'. Premiering in 1946, at the City Center of Music and Drama, New York, it was created by George Balanchine.

Title credit for Alice in wonderland

Alice at the gates

Alice in the mirror

Alice having tea

Alice in Wonderland (Jonathan Miller, 1966), my favourite adaptation.

Session Thirty Seven: Video Game Gothic We are especially excited to announce that our first Gothica session of the 2025/26 academic year will be Video Game Gothic with our special guest speaker Dr Efram Sera-Shriar on Zoom on Thursday 2…

I'm delighted to be delivering a talk on 23 Oct 2025 btwn 5–6.30pm (BST) for @gothicauob.bsky.social

My talk is titled: ‘Battling Satan in Your Underpants: Censoring Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins Videogame during the Age of American Satanic Panic’

Details 👇
uobgothica.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/s...

Register & sign up below for 2 exciting #Halloween season #Gothic events! ⬇️🎃

YouTube video by ALTEA MEDIA / I LOVE TV La Bayadère

You can fine a recording of the full production here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsw8...

The Kingdom of the Shades taken from Petipa's final revival in 1900.

The Kingdom of the Shades from Rudolf Nureyev's 1991 production, when he was artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet. It was his last production before he died of HIV/AIDS.

A tragedy, the narrative follows the titular bayadère, or temple dancer, Nikiya who is killed by snake in an act of revenge by a jealous love rival. She dances in the Kingdom of the Shades surrounded by other spirits, where she is reunited with her lover, the warrior Solor.

Day 7 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and we move to the past once more with 'La Bayadère' (1877). Consisting of four acts and seven tableaux, the original choreography was by Marius Petipa, music by Ludwig Minky and libretto by Sergei Khudekov.

In July 1518, Frau Toffea started dancing uncontrollably, and the plague spread. At its peak, it has been recorded that 500 people were dancing (though hard to verify). Later accounts put the death toll as around 15 people per day, caused by exhaustion, heart attacks and strokes.

Day 6 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and today we are looking at Frau Troffea, reputedly the first recorded victim of the 1518 dancing plague that started in Strasburg, Alsace.
Image: Engraving, Hendrik Hondius, based on the work of Pieter Brueghel.

a portion of stained glass showing a skeletal figure in a winding sheet flying in the air and holding a scroll

À différent portion of the same stained glass showing a skeletal figure wrapped in a sheet brandishing an arrow and riding into a crowd.

The full round stained glass showing the precocious two figures with Germanic text rubbing around the outside. The colour palette is yellow and brown

I ended up spending longer in Bologna than expected this week, and this was one of the unexpected delights of that extra time. It’s an early sixteenth century tondelli - round stained glass window - showing the Triumph of Death, made in the German regions, and based on an engraving by Albrecht Dürer

Best way to spend Saturday - so much gothic delight in one place! Just watched a great talk by @macabredanse.bsky.social 's Kate Harvey and a brilliant writing workshop with @icysedgwick.bsky.social gave me ideas for my YA :) Makes my dark little gothic heart happy.

#WritingHorror #HorrorStudies

Delegates_Ver2_DRAFT Unquiet Shores programme.docx 3rd DRAFT PROGRAMME (updated 13 May 2025) Wednesday 18th June Bus departs Bainfield:0930 Registration and coffee: 10.00 (main foyer) Playing in Room 1/17 (Riady) 1000-1530: Sarah Robyn Farrell, Echoe...

Thrilled to be presenting my research on (marine) hauntology and 'Rebecca' (Du Maurier) at the upcoming Unquiet Shores Conference in Edinburgh Napier, organised by @hauntedshores.bsky.social and @macabredanse.bsky.social.

Check out the programme: tinyurl.com/5yf38hws

@hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social been doing final tech check for remote attendance, excited for Wednesday morning. Got my coffee machine ready! #GothicStudiesNerd

Day 1 of #unquietshores conference is now underway. In session 1 - echoes from antiquity (parallel sessions) I've been learning about the death of Pan in literature around the 1910 period. #gothicConference @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social

Luna (currently cat sitting) is listening quietly to Veres Ottilia presenting "nobody underneath a big wave: sedimentary remnants in Alice Oswald's Nobody: a hymn to the sea" #unquietshores session 1a @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social

That's it, no more #unquietshores #unquietshores2025 posting from me, thanks 2everyone involved from @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social +uni of Edinburgh. Hopefully didn't annoy everyone with my tangents...Counting the appearances of the god Pan (4!) Or love for Black Phillip.🐐

a black and white photo of a woman holding another woman 's head in a dark room . Alt: a black and white photo of a woman holding another woman's head in a dark room (from the J-horror film, Ju-On).

Had an absolute blast at @hauntedshores.bsky.social and @macabredanse.bsky.social wonderful 'Unquiet Shores' conference. I got to speak on trauma, water, and sound in horror film, with a very generous reception to my (typical) insistence on inserting trauma and gender into EVERYTHING. Cheers!

Excited to teach a writing workshop & talk about Jane Campion’s “The Piano” plus uncanny sounds & images at the Unquiet Shores conference @edinburghnapier.bsky.social! Thanks @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social for a lovely time! #hauntedshores #unquietshores #creativewriting #piano

Taking my Silent Reading Party wherever I go! Big thanks to @hauntedshores.bsky.social @macabredanse.bsky.social
for the chance to play music at the Unquiet Shores conference @edinburghnapier.bsky.social! 🎹🔊 #silentreadingparty #silentwritingparty #hauntedshores #unquietshores #pianoimprovisation

It took me ages to get those screenshots from the video. I'm rather pleased with myself for this one.

Over on the Danse Macabre socials, we are about to start our epic annual daily gothic dance post for the whole of October. Follow along on twitter, bluesky, or Instagram with #31DaysOfMacabreDanse for a whole month on Dancing Dead Girls.

YouTube video by R113 Lorn - Acid Rain (Official Music Video)

. . . reinforcing the sense of Americana). See the whole thing here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxg4...

. . . and a desire to fight to live. The ubiquitousness of the cheerleader in American culture perhaps points to death of the American dream. (Notably, the car in the crash is a classic American car and a significant portion of the video takes place in a 1950s-style diner . . .

. . . the death dance of these young women draw to mind the shades and willis of the ballet blanc. Shot in one continuous takes, the video evokes the vulnerability of youth. The jerky dance movements suggest the final pangs of life, in the style of Frankenstein's monster resurrecting . . .

Day 5 of #31DaysofMacabreDanse and we have dancing, dead cheerleaders in Lorn's 'Acid Rain' music video.The dead cheerleader is a favourite Halloween costume, but here the effect is more melancholy. Despite the contemporary setting and the movement away from ballet . . .

In contrast, Helena's movement is decidedly balletic as she lands in 5th position in her black satin ballet shoes, moving forward with perfectly pointed, turned out feet. Helena is therefore a Dancing Dead Girl in the the mould of Giselle #31DaysOfMacabreDanse

Even the congregation are included, as Gerard Way practically puppets them from the pulpit, having them stand, sit and bow in prayer.

a group of people are dancing in a church with the words game encoder on the bottom ALT: a group of people are dancing in a church with the words game encoder on the bottom

Helena is not the only one to dance in the video, as a group of mourners congregate around the young woman's casket and perform a contemporary routine evoking the extreme emotional distress played out in the lyrics.