Sacred Temple Dance: Mata’s Debut
Materials used: Fair use photograph of Ruth St. Denis’ “Radha”, dried flowers, tube lights, 8mm film.
To be shot: Mata Hari performs her debut striptease, removing her head.
How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body
8thday ofAprilin the year2009
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7thday ofMarchin the year2009
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A Bow To Shiva
Materials used: Fair use 16mm film, “Radiance”; cut out from photograph of Ted Shawn in “Cosmic Dance of Siva”; velvets; 8mm footage.
To be shot: Mata Hari’s body will dance behind Shiva- her limbs outstretched in different poses- while her head rests below his foot.
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Mata Performs the Songs of Bilitis at Natalie Barney’s Salon
Materials used: Liquid oil light projection; photographic cut outs; deterioration from dagguerotype; 8mm footage.
To be shot: Mata will dance inside and outside the circle of women.
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Her First Mission: Mata Takes a Ride in a French Military Observation Balloon
Materials used: tissue paper, photograph of Genoble circa WWI, 16mm newsreel footage of the Red Baron, tissue paper, yarn, tube lights, video generated color bars, 8mm film.
To be shot: Mata Hari’s head will dangle from the bottom of the observation balloon, while her body entertains a man in the basket.
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Mata Hari Spies on a German Submarine
Materials used: Tin foil, acrylic paint, photograph, 4 layers of 16mm film, 8mm footage
To be shot: Mata’s head will peer out of a model submarine.
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Mata Hari Discovers the Tank
Materials Used: Closeup on microfiche, photograph cutout, footage from fair use film, “Celebration”, painted wings, 8 mm film
To be shot: Mata’s legs will sprout out of the tank; her head rests on the side.
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Title Sequence
Materials used: peacock feather, skeleton leaves, sunrise cut out from 16mm film, textured paper, exposed 8mm film.
About
How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
This site was created to display the ongoing work that will comprise a short film by Amy Ruhl. “How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body” is an imaginary biography of a very real
historical figure: the exotic dancer, courtesan, and alleged spy executed by firing squad for espionage in World War I.
Adding elements of fantasy to the already implausible life story of the woman whose name became synonymous with “femme fatale,” the film blends both newly created moving images with archival photographs of the Belle Epoque and World War I experience.
The most drastic point of departure from reality is inspired by the history and rumors surrounding her bodily remains. After her execution, Mata Hari's corpse was decapitated, her body used for medical study, and her head embalmed and housed in the Museum of Anatomy in Paris- an institution that displayed the heads of hundreds of criminals executed by firing squad or guillotine. In 2000, the faculty discovered her head had disappeared, causing speculation that a former lover took it when the museum relocated in 1954.
In my version of Mata Hari's life, she comes to the stage already dismembered- an exotic dancer that incorporates removing her head into her striptease with the same grace she takes off her veils. It is this freakish physiognomy that captures the fascination of the Belle Époque Parisians, making her an overnight success. Yet, this same oddity entangles Mata Hari in a web of conflict: her head and body compete for whom most can titillate the audience; she attracts the unhealthy obsession of an army captain in charge of French counterespionage; and with the outbreak of World War I, who can possibly trust a woman with such potential for “double-crossing”?
The following videos are not finished products. Rather, they are collaged backdrops I have created for video that will be shot in the future in front of a green screen and inserted into the pre-composed scenes. Not having the financial means to shoot right now, I continue to work on the backgrounds while trying to secure funding for all of the various filmmaking expenses.
This site was created to display the ongoing work that will comprise a short film by Amy Ruhl. “How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body” is an imaginary biography of a very real
historical figure: the exotic dancer, courtesan, and alleged spy executed by firing squad for espionage in World War I.
Adding elements of fantasy to the already implausible life story of the woman whose name became synonymous with “femme fatale,” the film blends both newly created moving images with archival photographs of the Belle Epoque and World War I experience.
The most drastic point of departure from reality is inspired by the history and rumors surrounding her bodily remains. After her execution, Mata Hari's corpse was decapitated, her body used for medical study, and her head embalmed and housed in the Museum of Anatomy in Paris- an institution that displayed the heads of hundreds of criminals executed by firing squad or guillotine. In 2000, the faculty discovered her head had disappeared, causing speculation that a former lover took it when the museum relocated in 1954.
In my version of Mata Hari's life, she comes to the stage already dismembered- an exotic dancer that incorporates removing her head into her striptease with the same grace she takes off her veils. It is this freakish physiognomy that captures the fascination of the Belle Époque Parisians, making her an overnight success. Yet, this same oddity entangles Mata Hari in a web of conflict: her head and body compete for whom most can titillate the audience; she attracts the unhealthy obsession of an army captain in charge of French counterespionage; and with the outbreak of World War I, who can possibly trust a woman with such potential for “double-crossing”?
The following videos are not finished products. Rather, they are collaged backdrops I have created for video that will be shot in the future in front of a green screen and inserted into the pre-composed scenes. Not having the financial means to shoot right now, I continue to work on the backgrounds while trying to secure funding for all of the various filmmaking expenses.
