Orpheus is a demi-god, blessed with gift of music, a gift that can transform wild animals into tame pets or send listeners into a trance. It is the wedding day of Orpheus and Eurydice. Out walking in the fields, Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. On hearing the news Orpheus resolves to descend into the Underworld, and persuade the gods Pluto and Persephone, to give Eurydice back to Life. Orpheus traverses the Underworld and observes spirits in torment. He charms the ferryman, Charon, to take him across the land of the dead. Finally he is reunited with Eurydice. Pluto gives Orpheus a condition: Eurydice must walk behind Orpheus on the return to the Living World, and Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice during the journey. Orpheus agrees but almost at once is beset by doubts – has he been tricked? Is Eurydice still there? Finally he cannot resist and turns around. Eurydice dies a second time and this time is final. Orpheus returns to the World. In some stories he lives on as a mad hermit, unable to take his place in Society. In other versions he is beset by the people of the City, who accuse him of breaking the ancient laws by daring to enter the land of the dead. In this version Orpheus is set upon and beheaded, yet, as his head floats to the sea it is heard to be still singing its beautiful songs.

The Orfeo project skips past Monteverdi’s opera and focuses more on Rilke's poem: 'Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes’ which retells the story from Eurydice’s point of view.

Central to the installation is a type of open anamorphic box {a little on the lines of Samuel Hoogstraten's box at the National Gallery, London}.  The installation combines filmic scenes, some of which are animations by the Quays and others projected ballet 'tropes' created by choreographer Kim Brandstrup with dancer Zenaida Yanowsky.

While anyone in the gallery is able to see images projected on to the walls, the `box` provides a special optimal viewing experience: by looking through its peephole everything comes into a very specific alignment. The perspective lines of the box extend (referencing Orpheus’s lyre) from this miniature underworld onto the larger walls of the gallery where other exploratory ballet scenes are projected.

The sound combines elements of the Monteverdi opera with sounds recorded at an underground river in Leeds. Stylistically the installation provides a sense of magical deep intimacy created by the qualities of Zenaida’s movement and the Quay’s ability to create a strange and unsettling world in miniature.

Quay Brothers Timothy and Stephen Quay originate from Philadelphia but have lived in London since 1977, In 1980 they formed their production company Kon{inck and since then they have created renowned work for cinema - (Street of Crocodiles); theatre - Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night's Dream (Almeida), Ionesco’s The Chairs (Theatre de Complicite); opera – Love for Three Oranges (Opera North/ENO); commercials and music videos; and dance – designing The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (Malmo Dramatiska Theatre) Cupid and Psyche (Royal Danish ballet), they made In Absentia for the BBC, a collaboration with Karlheinz Stockhausen and for Channel 4, Sandman and directed Duet as part of a series pairing choreographers with filmmakers, both with Will Tuckett.

Kim Brandstrup Renowned Danish-born choreographer Kim Brandstrup studied film at the University of Copenhagen and choreography at the London Contemporary Dance School in London. He has created a number of successful dance works both for his company, Arc, founded in 1985, and various international dance and ballet companies. His choreography blends fluidly modern and post-modern syntactical and narrative solutions with forms and precepts derived from both ballet and American modern dance.

Zenaida Yanowsky Zenaida joined The Royal Ballet in 1994 and was promoted to Principal in 2001. Her repertory includes Odette/Odile, Sugar Plum Fairy, Manon, Myrtha, Lilac Fairy (Sleeping Beauty), Gamzatti, Empress Elizabeth, Siren (Prodigal Son), Sylvia, The Chosen One (Rite of Spring), Lady Elgar, Raymonda Act III, Agon, Ballet Imperial, Symphony in C, Serenade and Monotones II. She has created roles for and worked with such choreographers as Tharp, Forsythe, Ek, Duato, Tetley, Tuckett, Page, Davies, Wheeldon, Yanowsky, Baldwin, Marston, Kylián, Brandstrup, Mrozewski, Bruce and Flindt. She features in the films Duet and The Sandman (Channel 4) and recently filmed Riot of the Rite (BBC).

Nic Knowland Multi-award-winning Director of Photography Nic Knowland is one of the leading professionals in his field. His work spans from feature films to tv dramas, commercials and arts films. He has collaborated on a number of dance films including four films directed by David Hinton: Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men, Strange Fish, Touched and Critical Mass and two films directed by Miranda Pennell: Nightworks and Tattoo. His previous work with the Brothers Quay includes the dance film Duet and the feature films Institute Benjamenta and The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes.

Duration: 12 minutes

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