https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y3izEP3o4Y
1:00 – 1:50
For Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, I chose a video from Opus Arte of a dance performance from the Royal Opera House. The video depicts Kafka’s work through dance and music. I chose this video because it was very appealing to me in terms of interpretation. The work was at first very confusing to me. My interpretation of the work was that Gregor was an overworked man who was abused and used. This pushed him over the edge and he saw himself as an insect, literally. However from the video, I saw it was depicted as much more disturbing. From 1:00 to 1:50, in the video, it shows how much the everyone wants to get into Gregor’s room. Everyone wants to be aware of him and the focus is on him. However, as they reach the room, the lighting and music, as well as the dancers change dramatically. I especially loved how the lighting made the emphasis on how Gregor’s family and boss didn’t even want to look at him. I really enjoyed how the dancer who was portraying Gregor was positioned. It was really disturbing to look at how his body was positioned and I thought that was very accurate of what Kafka was trying to show in his text. I could understand the fear and horror of what his parents saw. Along with that, the paint on his body further emphasized how he was not meant to be seen. The lighting was also very accurate as we could tell that after being discovered, he didn’t want to be seen. Gregor wanted to be in his own cave. I thought this was an extremely excellent show that the Royal Opera House did. It made it clear what was going on and could also help us understand the fear and how horrid the situation was.