Ritual in Transfigured Time

Ritual in Transfigured Time
Directed byMaya Deren
Written byMaya Deren
Produced byMaya Deren
Starring
CinematographyHella Hammid (as Hella Heyman)
Edited by
Release date
  • October 22, 1946 (1946-10-22)
Running time
15 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languageno dialogue spoken

Ritual in Transfigured Time is a 1946 American experimental silent short film directed by Maya Deren.[1] Like Deren's previous work, A Study in Choreography for Camera (1945), she explores the use of dance on film through the lens of commentary of societal norms, metamorphosis, and anthropomorphism. The film is notable for its disjointed storytelling and use of slow motion, freeze framing, and unique blend of stage dance and film.

Deren became known for her affinity for dance in other subsequent films such as Meditation on Violence, Ensemble for Somnambulists, and Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. Elinor Cleghorn writes: "While she never undertook formal training, she identified as a dancer; but rather than pursuing a career as a performer she made her fascination with dance as cultural expression the focus of her progression as a writer and researcher."[2]

  1. ^ Haslem, Wendy (12 December 2002). "Great Directors: Maya Deren". Senses of Cinema (23). Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. ^ Cleghorn, Elinor (2016). "'One must at least begin with the body feeling': Dance as filmmaking in Maya Deren's choreocinema". Cinema Comparat/Ive Cinema. 4 (8): 36–42.