zeitgeist fairy tales

‘Billboard prophets speak
urban sages craft new spells—
legends pulse with life.’

Zeitgeist Fairy Tales is a series where I explore the objectification of the female form in old Hollywood musicals, particularly those choreographed by Busby Berkeley.

According to IMDB, Berkeley was one of the most celebrated choreographers of American musicals and a leading Broadway dance director. He rose to fame in the 1930s, when Hollywood musicals exploded in popularity. Yet behind the glitter and glamour, the 1930s were marked by political unrest, social upheaval, and the grinding poverty of a global depression. These films offered audiences a dazzling escape—but at what cost?

Berkeley used the camera to give audiences what he imagined they wanted: endless visions of beautiful women, often framed through a dehumanizing choreography of spread legs and geometric formations. His revolutionary camerawork reduced women’s bodies to abstract patterns, stripping them of individuality. In this series, I reclaim those female figures, shifting their context and meaning. For me, Berkeley embodied the mentality of his era—not only exploiting the female form but also appropriating elements of American culture, themes that surface repeatedly throughout my work.

My process was to appropriate fragments of his choreography, then deconstruct, edit, and manipulate them, layering each piece with newly created music. The result is a reconstruction: my own miniature musicals. As I worked through these pieces, I came to see how deeply entangled exploitation and appropriation are—and I began to wonder, what kind of Zeitgeist are we really looking at?

Woman I Am

Water Maidens

Arriba

Pow Wow

Kaleidoscope

Schitck

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