2010 was a very busy year, but not so much due to design work (I just kept my regular gigs), but because I branched out to use my graduate degree for what it was intended - teaching history! I started teaching two courses at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey: "Early American Civilization" and "Recent American History". What do costume design and American history have in common? Well, a whole lot if you are a designer of plays and period pieces, but not so much if you primarily design for concert dance like I do! I know its funny to be an aspiring historian using design as a steady job (usually its the other way around), but I am fascinated by American culture - particularly material and popular culture, and as I always tell my students, history isn't about memorizing a series of facts, its a tool to understand the society you live in - how you fit into it, and how you can change it. Luckily, I love both of my vocations, I could never give up either one! Now, onto the designs...
Let's start exactly a year ago in February 2010. Time Lapse Dance celebrated its 10th anniversary season at Tribeca Performing Arts Center! As I mentioned in my last blog post, Jody [Sperling] received a grant from the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics' Emerging Artist Commissioning Program to create a Loie Fuller-inspired aerial piece. Jody has been performing on the trapeze for a number of years now, but for this project she recruited aerialist/contortionist/ballerina Rachel Salzman to perform in a harness. Imagine engineering the voluminous amount of fabric involved in a Loie Fuller-inspired costume around a harness but somehow also keeping that voluminous costume from wrapping around the cable suspending the dancer as she spins, flips, and flies!?!? With teamwork (and trial and error), we managed to do it - and the results were just breathtaking! Here is a picture of Rachel performing in Jody Sperling's Satellite.
Satellite by Jody SperlingPhoto: David Gonsier
Ghosts Revisited by Jody SperlingPhoto: David Gonsier
Shortly after finishing up with Time Lapse Dance, things got underway at Marymount. Spring is a very busy time for the Dance Department at Marymount because that is when we host all of our guest artists. My favorite project of the semester was designing a new work for Robert Battle called Channels. Channels was a different kind of piece than I've seen Robert do before and it evolved over the course of a year, giving me plenty of time to think about it. I wanted the costumes to respond both to lyrical and percussive movements, and I wanted to evoke the feeling of a soloist working with a chorus (like in a Greek drama). I also wanted the silhouette of the costume to reflect some of the major shapes inscribed in the choreography: angles and semi-circular arches. (You can kind of see the idea from these beautiful photographs taken by Rosalie O'Connor.)
Channels by Robert BattlePhotos: Rosalie O'Connor
As we were finishing up Channels it was announced that Robert will become the new Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in July 2011. It is so nice when good things happen to good people, and given that this was my fourth time working with Robert I can honestly say that he is a good and kind man, and I am so pleased to have met him on his "way up." Congratulations Mr. Robert Battle - you will be great at your new job!
Channels by Robert BattlePhoto: Rosalie O'Connor
A second guest artist that created a new work at Marymount was Benoit-Swan Pouffer of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Mr. Pouffer brought his own designer, Nancy Bae, to work with us and this was such a wonderful experience for me. Nancy comes from the world of fashion (and knitting!) - she is in charge of sweater designs at the GAP - and she is an amazing artist! It was fascinating to help her realize her design, which melded dance wear with improvisational hand-knitting, hand-dyeing, and deconstruction. Thank you Nancy for coming to Marymount! Here is a fantastic picture taken by Rosalie O'Connor of the piece titled "For All of Us" with Nancy's costumes (don't you LOVE the crochet with the semi-transparent mesh - so beautiful!)
For All of Us by Benoit-Swan PoufferPhoto: Rosalie O'Connor
Costume Design: Nancy Bae
Summer was a very busy time too - I designed and built costumes for a new work of choreography by Katherine Duke for the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, and then I celebrated Christmas in July with my good friend Gina Ricca who designed a new Nutcracker and had me build some of the costumes! Unfortunately, I don't have photos right now...but I do hope to get around to writing a post about the various Nutcracker costumes I've built over the years, because its a whole bunch!
Fall came very quickly and I was nervous about starting my new teaching job, but I was also happy to have the opportunity to design for two faculty members at Marymount whom I've never worked with before. Alessandra Prosperi is a lovely dancer/choreographer working in the Graham tradition; she choreographed a piece titled Satsang and provided great guidance with her costumes. I also had the assistance of a student design major named Cinzia Mungo, so I was working with two women with beautiful Italian names at the same time! Thank you to Alessandra and Cinzia for making it such a delightful experience, and a special thank you to Eduardo Patino, the extremely skillful dance photographer who took these photos and gave me permission to publish them here on my blog.
Satsang by Alessandra ProsperiPhotographer: Eduardo Patino, NYC
The second choreographer that I felt lucky to work with in the fall was Jeff Shade. Jeff choreographs and directs musical theater, and he is a generous and upbeat person. When I found out that we would be working together, I knew I would be outside of my design 'comfort zone' but Jeff was very supportive and I think we made a successful team! Jeff's piece was a fun jazz number about the crazy dream scenarios that we all have when we are asleep - like running and running but not being able to get where you are going. The theme of the costumes was 'technicolor pajamas.' (On a somewhat related note, I have this recurring dream where I walk into my 10th grade math class with no shirt on, and I figure if I play it cool, no one will notice - but luckily, me and Jeff are more tasteful than that!) A design major also assisted me on these costumes, her name is Elise Vanderkley and she is such an asset to the Theatre Department at Marymount; I felt lucky to 'borrow' her for the Dance Department! Thanks also to Mr. Eduardo Patino for this picture.
Got Dreams? by Jeff ShadePhotographer: Eduardo Patino, NYC
Well friends, thank you so much for visiting with me on my blog! I wish you a wonderful 2011 and I hope you will come back soon.
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