Eurydice
Researcher:
Eurydice
Researcher:
Abstract / About the project
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Based on the plot of Louis XIV’s Ballet de la Nuit (1653), Eurydice (2017/2020) is a modern realisation of the fourth watch of the 13-hours work. This part of the ballet is based on the Greek mythology of Orpheus and Eurydice, who loved each other but failed to end happily. The text in Eurydice is recited by a female vocal artist, in which she recites all the male and female roles, including the Companion of Orpheus, Hamadryads, the three Graces, and Eurydice. This monologue, aside from having a dramatic multiple personae effect, is also a reciprocation to the 17th century’s cross-casting tradition, when female roles were often played by men–an example would be Louis XIV playing the wine-loving Bacchante in Ballet des Fêtes de Bacchus (1651) before he reached his full adult maturity. The text is adapted from Sébastien Daucé’s reconstruction of the Ballet de la Nuit in 2015, where he also includes sections from Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo (1647) into the realisation.