2012
Religious Mantis is a twelve-minute live interactive theatrical dance performance that uses video projections onto a garment, which changes depending on the dancer's movements. The performance depicts three female characters from Dante Alighieri's Inferno: Francesca, Harpy, and Cleopatra.
Using a Kinect, Trenda, metamorphoses into these characters throughout the performance. The first part of the performance portrays Francesca, the most debated “eroina dell’amore ideale”, the second part portrays Harpy, and the final part portrays Cleopatra.
This was part of the exhibition, "Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between Sin, Virtue, and Heroism" at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles.This was a collaborative work of art with Alessandro Marianantoni, adjacent professor at UCLA Film. The music was created by Joseph Bishara and the garment was constructed by Marina Tia. Light design was by Maarten Cornelis and additional graphics were provided by Kevin Finch.