For the exhibition «Niklaus Manuel and the Reformation Period» Bernisches Historisches Museum commissioned Atelier Tschachtli to produce an animated short film based on Manuel’s «Dance of Death» – a mural consisting of 24 scenes depicting death dancing with people as diverse as an emperor, a beggar, a queen, an abbot, a soldier, a cook, a child and its mother. Fortunately, Albrecht Kauw copied the paintings in watercolor before the 80 meter long wall painting had to give way to an extension of a road In 1660.

Choreographer Nina Stadler and dancer Fhunyue Gao conceived an expressive dance performance that was motion captured at Artanim. 3D modeling, rigging and secondary animation were done by Simon Tschachtli. The sequence with music by Annalena Fröhlich is part of the current exhibition. Additional information about the exhibition: www.bhm.ch

Interactive WebGL scene derived from the cinema commercial. Click & drag the left mouse button to tumble the camera's viewpoint.

A special thank you to Aline Minder, Dr. Susan Marti, Dr. Andreas Rüfenacht, Franziska Karlen, Andreas Bach, Bernard Landolt, Severin Strasky, Dr. Jakob Messerli, Nina Stadler, Fhunyue Gao, Caecilia Charbonnier, Sylvain Chagué, Annalena Fröhlich, Remo Stoller