Heavy Metal Ballet Troupe Takes On 'Game Of Thrones'

You might not think to pair heavy metal music with classical ballet, but the two seemingly go together like a good cut of meat and a fine merlot.

Just take a look at this production by the Brutal Ballet company, which recently performed at TitanCon, a science fiction and fantasy convention in Belfast, Ireland, on Sept. 13. Set to a heavy metal cover of the "Game of Thrones" theme song, the ballet troupe's choreography provides a graceful contrast to the dark music.

According to the BBC, the HBO show's Eugene Simon (Ser Lancel Lannister) and Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon) attended the performance.

The group's founder, Bridie Mayfield, has been experimenting with the unusual marriage of classical dance and heavy metal music since 2008. She recently decided to relocate the troupe from Australia to Northern Ireland three months ago, according to TitanCon's website.

“I’ve always kind of choreographed to metal in my head, but I never thought it would be accepted so I never thought anything of it,” Mayfield told GOOD magazine. “I just thought, ‘oh, no one’s going to accept that!’ Metalheads are so diehard and passionate about it and they’d probably think I was just killing their art by doing it.”

Ballet has long been considered one of the more elite art forms, largely reserved for the more affluent who are able to afford the pricey performances. Mayfield says combining heavy metal with the traditional dance, however, has opened up the medium to a broader audience.

“It’s taken [ballet] away from being entertainment of the high society and it’s sort of introduced it to the general public,” Mayfield told GOOD. “People who aren’t metal heads and who aren’t ballet community people—they really like it.”

Watch a clip from BBC's interview with Mayfield, above, and check out the group's performance at TitanCon, below (the metal stuff starts around the 4:40 mark).