Ritual in Transfigured Time silently follows Rita Christiani’s perspective as she enters an apartment to find Maya Deren immersed in the ritual of unwinding wool from a loom. Deren includes another expression of the external invading the internal with a strange wind that surrounds and entrances her as she becomes transported by the ritual.
Ritual in Transfigured Time links the looming ritual with the ritual of the social greeting. The film’s continuity is established by an emphasis on gesture and/or dance throughout. This silent short begins in a domestic environment, moves to a party scene, and ends with modern dance performed in an outdoor setting. The realistic aspect is continuously transported in an atmosphere of dream thanks to the dance rhythm.