Queen of the Sky: A Demon Ballet
Survival of the Fittest.
After attempting a world flight, and ditching
over the pacific, the lone female pilot finds
herself amidst feral beings stalking her in the
shadows of Bikini Atoll, a radioactive island.
These beings telepathically manipulate her
thoughts and movement; generating a deranged
dance as she battles to gain control of her wits.
“Queen of the Sky, A Demon Ballet” is a concept
for a feature film that combines the beautiful
grace of dance with the gut-wrenching terror of
horror. It is a work in process, a sketchbook, of concept imagery and screen tests.
Director: Craig Baurley
Movement Choreographer: Jones (Welsh) Talmadge
Composer: Joe Kaplan
Editor: Craig Baurley
Camera Operator: Andrei Andreev
Starring: Anne-Marie Talmadge
Creature Cast: Jones (Welsh) Talmadge, Rissi Zimmerman, Abbi Samson, Lydia Purves-Ware, Livya Howard-Yashar, Maddy Beadle, Abe Meisel, Jesse Smith & Steven Jasso
Set make-up: Ashley Rose Kamali-Jones
Gaffer: Shenandoah Harris
Sound Mixer: Joe Kaplan
1st Assistant Director: Mark Freiburger
Production Assistants: Raquel Valencia, Jamie Yisidro & Tom Barnett
Fire Performer: Josh Hollamond
Cellist: April Guthrie
Violist/ Violinist: Lauren Baba
Inside Look Featurette ‘Queen of the Sky, A Demon Ballet’
A screen test and behind the scenes footage for the development of the feature “The Queen of the Sky, A Demon Ballet” staring Anne-Marie Talmadge and Jones (Welsh) Talmadge. It explores a new off-beat genre of dance horror. Director Craig Baurley envisions a spectacular ensemble of dance and movement performers to create a kinesthetic driven performance that combines the beautiful grace of dance with the gut-wrenching terror of horror. After attempting a world flight, and ditching over the pacific, the lone female pilot finds herself amidst feral beings stalking her in the shadows of Bikini Atoll, a radioactive island. These beings telepathically manipulate her thoughts and movement; generating a deranged dance as she battles to gain control of her wits. Craig Baurley is a filmmaker and production designer in Los Angeles, CA specializing in dance and movement based storytelling. Coming from a background of both film set design and visual effects, his visual aesthetic is clearly distinguished in composition and design. And his own movement practices have led him to use dance as a narrative storytelling medium. As a director he strives to introduce musicality and dance to filmmaking while maintaining clear cinematic narratives that resonate with modern audiences.
World-building through design.
Queen of the Sky: A Demon Ballet is a design-driven concept that explores how physical form, costume, and movement can shape cinematic storytelling. The work blends sculptural prosthetics, layered makeup, and anatomical exaggeration to build a creature aesthetic that feels both ritualistic and biologically plausible. Each element—from shark-toothed musculature to exoskeletal armor—is crafted to suggest a history of adaptation, survival, and eusocial behavior within the pack.
Rather than traditional character design, the focus is on creating an immersive visual logic: a world where body shape, texture, and movement all serve narrative purpose. Prosthetic pieces were hand-sculpted for texture and imperfection, then integrated into choreography that draws from animal behavior and dance theater. The result is a physical language that’s expressive, restrained, and deeply tactile.
