Wagner’s Dragon

Seattle Opera produced its third cycle of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen in 2001, and it has been put to the stage two more times since then. For “Ring III,” Luke was a part of the crew that built the dragon for Siegfried. The creature sported a 30-foot-long neck with seven fully-universal, articulated joints, supporting a latex skin and carbon fiber head. Six personnel in the base of the dragon operated the body’s push-pull cables and hydraulic system, as well as the 25-foot, 3-point articulated wing. And it drooled goo.

The Opera has never before accomplished anything so large and so complicated in such a short period of time.

In this video, just after 1:00, you can see the dragon in action: