She begins to dance
rhythms come flooding
Her father’s red scarf
forever around her neck
This ballet was choreographed (2016)for the Dutch National Ballet by their director Ted Brandsen with music by Tarik O’Regan. It tells the story of the life of Margaretha Zelle who lived before the first world war.
![](https://julianwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mata-Hari-4.jpg)
She escapes the cruelties of broken relationships and loss of her children
![](https://julianwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mata-Hari-2-1000-735x1024.jpg)
Alone in Paris she invents a stage exotic persona called Mata Hari; a Javanese Dancer in fabulous costumes
![Mata Hari Dutch National Ballet](https://julianwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/mATA-hARI-7.jpg)
Her bohemian lifestyle brings her fame and success, but eventually gets entangled with of the conflict of WW1
![Mata Hari Dutch National Ballet artwork by Julian Wiliams](https://julianwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mata-Hari-3-1000px.jpg)
and she is shot as a double agent.