Tarkovsky’s last film, The Sacrifice (1986) is the inspiration for this minimal choreographic work, commissioned by Trinity Laban, which in its structure, reflects upon the durational nature of his film language, and the amplification of nature, as well as the backdrop of nuclear threat which underpins the films narrative.

Tarkovsky opens the film, with an image of a young boy, ‘little man’, seated under a barren tree, by the shoreline, which he declared was a reference to Leonardo da Vinci's The Adoration of the Magi, which in turn, represents a moment of divine epiphany.

Taking the key elements of a metaphysical landscape, the cinematic still frame and slow panning intrinsic to Tarkovsky’s film, Rotie, worked with Butoh as well as contemporary dance to build a choreographic vocabulary and methodology. Butoh arose from the ashes of nuclear holocaust in Japan and there is already an intrinsic resonance within the philosophy of Butoh, and key methodologies, to the relation between nuclear catastrophe, apocalypse, and the collapse of a ‘world order’ that underpins The Sacrifice.

Rotie’s key research investigations explored the relation between choreography and film languages, focusing on repetition and duration and a quality of physical hovering and suspension (between above and below) that might then speak both to the still frame image, as well as embody the metaphysical and apocalyptic world suggested by Tarkovsky’s tree. An original choreographic connection is made between Rotie’s expertise in Butoh and Japanese Aesthetics such as Mu and MA (meaning emptiness or the space between things) and the slow pace of the cinematic space/time for which Tarkovsky is renowned. Sound played an intrinsic role in the process and Nick Parkin’s electroacoustic score intimated the threat of war, playing out across the slow frame movements of the dancers. The choreography continues Rotie’s ongoing body of research-led work exploring movement, landscape, film, and ecological issues.

Concept and Direction: Marie-Gabrielle Rotie Original Sound: Nick Parkin Costume Design: Florence Meredith Lighting Design: Rotie with Genevive Giron. Commissioned by Trinity Laban in London and performed by a cast of 15 contemporary dancers.

https://www.rotie.co.uk/forestforlitteman

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/23929