DesignCult

A Lovely Photo in the New York Times

2011-08-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

Its always nice to discover a photo of your work in The New York Times. The Times recently published this lovely photograph by Julieta Cervantes of costumes I designed in 2010 for Robert Battle's Channels.

The photo accompanied a review of the Alvin Ailey School's Spring Celebrations Concert in print in the New York edition on May 28, 2011. The performance was favorably reviewed by Roslyn Sulcas, and it is especially nice that she mentioned the costumes. You can read an online version of the review here.

"Process" and the NYPL Digital Gallery

2011-07-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

"All this while I sat upon the ground, very much terrified and dejected."
N.C. Wyeth
Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1697940

This spring I had the pleasure of working with a young choreographer named Dusan Tynek. Dusan was born in the Czech Republic but has established himself as New York City-based choreographer and company director of notable skill and promise. After I met with Dusan to discuss the new piece he was creating, I also became aware that we have something in common - an interest in local cultures, history, and folklore. Dusan told me he was creating a new piece called Widow's Walk. The term refers to an architectural detail that is often observable in homes in coastal communities, particularly in New England. A 'widow's walk' is a square, railed observation platform located on the roof from which the horizon can be scanned for returning ships. The romantic nature of the name suggests the dangers associated with maritime life.

"Widow'sWalk II"
Rob Gonsalves

Working with Dusan gave me the opportunity to use a resource that is truly a treasure to every designer - the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery. The NYPL has always been a favorite resource of designers based in the city. When I was an undergraduate student 15 years ago, using this resource entailed making a trip to the Mid-Manhattan Library branch and searching through files of clippings and color plates pasted onto card stock. When you checked them out, you were given a green folio to take them home in. Seeing someone carrying one of those signature folios likely meant they were a fellow designer or art student that couldn't afford their own research materials. Now, the entire collection (and so much more) has been digitized and is accessible to all.

I used the digital gallery to suggest a color pallete for the piece. Here are the images that inspired me and the resulting sketches and swatches.

The Men:

Whaler Rowing a Boat
Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?834485

The Wives:

"Momoyogusa = Flowers of a Hundred Generations"
Sekka Kamisaka (Japanese 1909)
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building / Spencer Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1269916

The Swimmers:

Greenland whale ; Sperm whale
From Naturgeschichte der Säugethiere : mit colorirten Abbildungen zum Anschauugs-Unterricht für die Jugend. (Esslingen : Schreiber, 1872) Schubert, Gotthilf Heinrich von (1780-1860), Author.
Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?823817

Lighting is the costume...

2011-04-23T17:56:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos I took backstage at Thursday's tech rehearsal for Alwin Nikolais's Crucible, restaged by Alberto (Tito) Del Saz and Peter Kyle with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts' American Masterpieces grant.

Nikolais = Genius. Amazing and breathtaking.

Things I did in 2010

2011-02-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

Hello dear friends, in effort to keep this blog going as my digital portfolio, I have some new images to upload. But first things first...

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 Sperling
Photo: David Gonsier

At the same performance, dancers from Barnard and Columbia University joined the company as guests to perform a revised version of a work called Ghosts. I just love this picture of the students!

Ghosts Revisited by Jody Sperling
Photo: 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 Battle
Photos: 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 Battle
Photo: 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 Pouffer
Photo: 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 Prosperi
Photographer: 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 Shade
Photographer: 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.

2010-02-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to remind everyone about Time Lapse Dance's upcoming 10th anniversary performances at Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Feb. 19th-21st, 2010.

The photo is dancer-aerialist Rachel Salzman rehearsing for Jody Sperling's "Satellite" at the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics. (Photo by David Gonsier) You can read about this project and more Time Lapse Dance fun in my previous post. Please come!

Pictures from last year...

2010-01-28T09:47:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Okay, I'm only about a month late. There are many benefits of having a blog. The first is that they keep you humble: if you need a reminder that no one really cares about what you think, then start a blog! Second, this blog makes me keep some kind of record of what I've been working on, which is the reason I happily persist. So, in that spirit here are some pictures from last year's projects.

Fall was nice at Marymount. Anthony Ferro revised a work of his called "Red Wagon," which he originally created in the early 1980s (I believe). The piece is set to a bunch of old-time jazz numbers. Check out these fun pictures taken by my personal photography hero Rosalie O'Connor. She always captures the mood of what's on stage in a very understated sort of way, and its amazing to watch her work. I always try to anticipate when I will hear her camera click and I've decided that she's pretty restrained and not just going for the big moments. She gets a lot of depth in her work that way I think.

Project number two at Marymount this past semester was costumes for a collaboration between Nancy Lushington (choreographer), Rob Dutiel (designer of the interactive set and lighting designer), and Rebecca Mushtare (digital media designer). I joined in after they had already been working together for several months. Basically, I just tried to design something that picked up the motifs from the set and that would act as a screen for the digital projections. They weren't complicated costumes and I feel they were successful because they didn't draw attention to themselves or overly complicate an already packed stage (there were 20 dancers). But, honestly, the simplest costumes are the most difficult to design - I agonized about every line!

Projections:

The Set:

The Costumes:

Hmmmm, what else has been going on? Oh yes, for the past few months I've been getting ready for the upcoming Time Lapse Dance season. Jody conceived of a piece with flags, which made me happy because sewing flags is pretty low-stress! I also made the costumes underneath...no design really, just something that would look decent on everyone (that's 97% of a designer's job in the dance world, the other 3% is saving your receipts for tax time). Actually, this is just half of the costume because the photos were taken at a residency and I may be changing the tops by the time the work premieres in February. These amazing pictures were taken in a dress rehearsal by the lighting designer's wife!!! His name is David Ferri and her name is Vanessa Cheung. When I saw these pictures all I could think was "Geesh, could this family have any more talent?!" No, they have more than their fair share of talent as it is!!! And Jody's choreography is so zen! I don't want to give too much away, so just look...

Hmmmm, what's wrong with this picture? Hint: Legwarmers!

But wait, there's more. Jody received a grant through Streb's Emerging Artist Commissioning Program to create an aerial work in their amazing facility (S.L.A.M. aka "the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics"). Jody decided to use the grant to create a piece in the style of Loie Fuller for aerialist (and ballerina) Rachel Salzman. Thus began a very intense process of figuring out how a costume of Loie-magnitude could work on a trapeze. Showing the sketch won't ruin the surprise because as always, its the choreography that transforms the fabric into magic. (And if you go to Jody's blog you can also see a snippet of rehearsal on video. I honestly just feel in awe.)

The Sketch:

But, since I can't tantalize you with actual photos of that, check out this groovy picture of Time Lapse Dance when the company performed in India for the opening ceremony of an international cricket tournament. They got to meet the Shaolin Monks - I wish they needed a costumer to travel along!

While were on the topic of aerialists, I also had the pleasure this year of collaborating for the first time with Above and Beyond Dance, a 'circus-infused' company directed by Chriselle Tidrick. Its not at all like Ringling Bros., or Cirque, or even Bread and Puppet. It's not about spectacle, or even spectacle with a message, its pure substance. Here are some photos taken by Julie Lemberger. This was my first time designing around harnesses, slings, swings, and other apparatuses and thankfully, Chriselle was very patient.

I call this photo "Portrait of a Discouraged Costumer" (Just Kidding!)

Well, that is all of the photos that I have for now. I wish everyone a great 2010, and I hope I can keep my resolution of turning down plastic grocery bags in favor of all of the reusable ones I've collected. So far, so good!

Clothing and Politics

2009-08-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

All clothing is political. How we dress is probably the clearest expression of who we think we are, how we identify with others, and what we aspire to be. Clothing is the means by which we determine if someone is more or less powerful than us and what their values are. Where we buy our clothes, what we demand from them, and how we reinstate or challenge the conventions of what is 'acceptable' within our social milieu are all determined by our position in the network of human relationships on both a local and global scale and how we view the world. It is true that 'fashion' complicates the issue by constantly updating the sartorial codes that allow us to interpret a person's clothing correctly - but still, most of us average folks are pretty darn good at making accurate judgments of who a person is by what they are wearing.

A current exhibit at the Museum at F.I.T. examines the most overt examples of the relationship between fashion and politics. It would be a misleading to say that most of the examples are the kind of everyday political statements we all make with our clothes (that might not be the most exciting show) but still, its a good introduction. People should check it out - its free!

Spring Rep

2009-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

This spring was a busy one at the 'mount (Marymount). I always love when we have Martha Graham works in the rep. Denise Vale wove three well-known Graham duets into a single work. To unify the piece, I designed new costumes around a thematic gold fabric. As per Graham tradition, the women wore gowns and the men wore next to nothing. The three duets in order were: Helen and Paris, Star Duet, and Dancer's World (which is probably some of my favorite choreography of all time.) By the way, due to a severe storage crisis, these and other costumes are for sale. The lovely photos are by the even lovelier Rosalie O'Conner.

On Exhibit at the NYPL for the Performing Arts...

2009-01-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

Recently two events have made me think that I should just hang it up and retire while the going is good. The first event was that for the first time in my 10+ years of designing at Marymount, all students scheduled for fittings showed up in a single day - at their scheduled time!! Usually, approximately 1/3-1/2 simply 'flake' and I end up chasing them around the school, sending desperate emails, and resorting to idle threats like, "If you don't come to fittings, I can't make you a costume."

The second, even more improbable event, is that one of my designs is now hanging at Lincoln Center in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts as part of an exhibit titled Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance. Not only is it displayed, it has a place of honor - it is the one hooked up on the rotating contraption welcoming visitors to the exhibit! And there it will hang until May 2nd, 2009 - among far better costumes by women who are my idols - an achievement more unexpected than 20 students showing up for fittings in a single day!

If you are a costumer, if you are student of design, or even if you just love to sew, this exhibit is worth seeing because you can get up close and personal with all of the garments to check out the techniques. By the way, the costume of mine on display is called the "White Peacock," which I wrote about in a prior post. It is a gown with a 'tail' that converts into a cape...but only the tail/cape is hanging in the exhibit. Below is a picture of Jody Sperling bringing the costume to life - and imparting the true magic. I'll also try to dig out my sketches and post them later if I can find them.

2008 Wrap-Up

2008-12-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks, one of the reasons I started this blog was so to keep some kind of portfolio going. Well, I haven't kept it up have I? In an attempt to do better, here is my 2008 wrap-up.

I've had the opportunity to design for many nifty choreographers this year, several for the first time, so I'll start there. At Marymount this year we had new choreography by David Parsons and Edwaard Liang. The first photos (all by the AMAZING and super-nice Rosalie O'Connor) are from the Parson's work. The lower photos are from Liang's ballet "At First Sight."

(Okay, so you can't really see the Parson's costumes all that well, but they were really cool leotards and unitards with exposed industrial-sized hook and eye-tape down the front.)

I also designed for two faculty choreographers whom I've never worked with before. The first three photos below are from Lone Larson's "Dahab." The third photo is from Peter Kyle's "Polyphany."

Outside of Marymount, I completed a few fun and challenging projects for Jody Sperling's Time Lapse Dance 2008 season at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. The first group of photos (by Julie Lemberger) is from the premiere of the very circusy "Bang for the Buck." The center photos are of an illuminated unitard created for the piece "Ghosts." The costume was designed with technical input from members of NYU's Interactive Technology program and since I don't even own a cell phone, creating with circuit boards, wires, and conductive fabric and thread was a big step for me. The final set of photos (also taken by Julie Lemberger) are from "Ballet of Light" - a piece I actually designed for Jody a year and a half ago, but which just had it's New York premiere. The wonderful projections on the scrim covering the stage were designed by Roger Hanna. The whole spectacle of dance, costumes, lighting, live music and projections was one of the prettiest things I have ever had the honor of contributing to.

Also in Time Lapse Dance news, one of Jody's works was added to the repertory of the acclaimed Dutch company Introdans this year. They decided to have me remake the costume that I originally created for Jody in 2005. Here is a rehearsal photo of the new (and expanded) costume for 'Night Winds' from Jody Sperling's "Roman Sketches."

Last but not least, this year I was also interviewed for Dancer Magazine by Wendy Garofoli. I sound like a big doofus in the article (the quotes were accurate I am afraid) but at least they made a nice montage of my recent designs on the title page. (Note to self: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.") Here's the montage:

Well, if you've read this far on this looooooong blog post, you are either a: a good friend or b: related to me; so in that case, I'll wish you a very happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! Please keep in touch and let me know what you're up to.

Resort Wear, 1870-1910

2008-05-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Ephraim Rotter is the curator of the Thomas County Museum of History in southwest Georgia. Most people are familiar with the collections of haute couture housed within the textile divisions of fine arts museums, however, few people realize that regional and on-site museums of history also house troves of garments in their collections. These garments were often locally or regionally produced and offer unique opportunities for interpretation within the museum. I decided to ask Ephraim about it.

Q: Hi Ephraim, can you give me a rough estimate of how many pieces of clothing are housed in your museum and what types of garments are the most common?

A: There are about eight hundred individual textiles accessioned into our collection. Most common are uniforms – military, organizational and professional. These include dozens of World War I & II uniforms, Girl Scout, Boy Scout, and Brownie uniforms, Masonic accessories, nurse uniforms, you name it.

Q: I know that you are putting together two display cases of clothing now, specifically, how do they fit into the larger collection of artifacts being presented?

A: Yikes…this is a two part answer – the two cases will each contain displays of Victorian finery, one men’s, one women’s. This plays into our interpretation of Thomasville’s “Resort Era,” roughly 1870-1910. During this period, Thomasville was a premier destination resort – Florida was too malarial, and north Georgia was too cold. It attracted many of the industrial elite of the Gilded Age: the Goodyears, Vanderbilts, Hannas, Rockefellers, Carnegies, etc etc…they all stayed here. Even President William McKinley vacationed here twice, once during his first run in 1895, and then again as President in 1899. Two major hotels catered to this elite set, the Piney Woods and the Mitchell House – they shipped in whatever was considered “the best,” including an Italian orchestra. This display of finery is an homage to how each gender of these elite visitors would have dressed for a day or evening of entertainment.

Truth is, I think we focus a little too much on the Resort Era as the major formative period in Thomasville history – and to double that, I think our interpretation of the Resort Era needs to focus more on Thomasvillians, and less on the famous visitors. Of course, it’s not that easy – many of those famous visitors bought property in and around Thomasville, several of which are still in their families today, which led to descendants being born and raised in Thomasville. I’m not sure what the qualifications for “native” are.

Q: When many people think of clothing in a museum they picture something like the Armani exhibit that drew huge crowds to the Guggenheim. I call this the ‘connoisseurship-oriented’ approach because the emphasis is on appreciation of the clothing as works of art (and rightly so). However, as a curator at a history museum you must employ different standards when accessioning clothing into the museum’s collection or including it in an exhibition. In general, what types of criterion do you use?

A: As a basic rule, and this extends beyond textiles, I look for items with a connection to Thomasville – these can be things manufactured in/thematically about Thomasville/Thomas County, or these can be things that have nothing to do with Thomasville other than having been owned by a local. Both are important. On occasion, someone will just donate something interesting or valuable enough that I don’t really care about the provenance – for example, we have a collection of eight Adrian Originals, with limited (if any) connection to Thomasville/County. I have no strict rules, and I’m not always as consistent or as objective as I’d like to be, but I try.

Q: Before relocating to Georgia you were assistant curator at the Battleship New Jersey. I was surprised to see that even Navy uniforms from the same era and rank were far from identical. Can you comment on this?

A: Of course this was surprising – and I’m sure that a careful inspection of current military insignia would reveal there are still inconsistencies today. I think outsiders tend to view others, especially “closed” cultures or organizations as homogenous monoliths – and I think this is rarely true, no matter how hard a culture or organization might try. My favorite example of cultural variants like this are the Amish groups of Lancaster. I think cultural/organizational leadership often try to imply this homogeneity, so it’s not surprising outsiders expect it – but I have no idea how these variations in what are supposed to be centralized systems occur. Is it a result of size, and the ultimate inevitability of non-conformists operating in conformist conditions, leaving their mark where they can? Is it just a series of small replication errors within regional branches, building upon one another until they become visible variants from the standard? Or are things just not as centrally organized as they seem?

Q: In most museums only a few carefully selected objects are on display, clothing or otherwise, while the remaining articles remain archived. Is there a particular object in the Thomas County Museum that fascinates you but hasn’t found room in the limited display space available?

A: There are two items – one is a dress - a velvet royal purple abomination. It was owned by an interesting woman, Kathy Folsom, who grew up in Thomasville and Manhattan, with an indescribable accent to match – but back to the dress - it gives me seizures, like Mary Hart’s voice or Voltron, and I would like to share that with the world.

The other is a “Pickrick Drumstick” with “From Maddox Country” written on either side. This is a memento from the successful gubernatorial campaign of Lester Maddox (Governor of Georgia, 1967-1971), part of that last generation of segregationist politicians, of which George Wallace was the best known. [see below]

He was a high school dropout and owned the Pickrick Cafeteria in Atlanta, near Georgia Tech. In 1964 it became the symbol of segregationist policies in places of public accommodation, and a site of frequent protest. In response, Maddox armed a white posse with his “Pickrick Drumsticks” – axe handles used to beat back and intimidate the protestors. During his run for governor, he signed and handed these out to supporters. I think this is the most powerful symbol of racial intimidation and violence in our collection, even more so then the mace used to beat slaves with.

With that said, Maddox was an enormously popular governor, and segregation is not something the region has fully come to terms with yet, particularly the generation of folk who supported it. As a “Yankee,” I am not in a good social position to approach this topic in an earnest way. I hope that changes as the generation of segregationists dies off, but…it may take longer.

At the Georgia Museum & Galleries Conference in Columbus several months ago, I got into a conversation about this topic with the curator of the Marietta Museum of History – and she lamented that the museum does not address the Leo Frank lynching of 1915. She wanted to, but local history museums tend to be governed by longtime families of the region, who often are hyper-sensitive to the negative events that inevitably happen in any region. Descendants of families who partook in the lynching sit on the Board, and are still too close to the participants to be able to accept any criticism.

I don’t want this to come across as simply a Southern phenomenon – I’m sure an investigation of local history museums everywhere will find a level of hypersensitivity towards these kinds of events. And in regards to Thomas County…these sensitivities betray what is otherwise a remarkable track record of social progress, especially in regards to gender and sexual orientation.

Cinderella...One year later

2007-05-29T19:09:00.001-07:00

I'm slowly catching up! Here are a few photographs of American Repertory Ballet's Cinderella, which I designed in 2006. Graham Lustig was the choreographer and Ron Lessard snapped these photos from the balcony during a dress rehearsal. What a big project it was, boy I feel tired just thinking back on it.

Caution: Nudity and Rough Sketches Ahead

2007-05-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

“His designs were fictitious fantasy, not borrowed from past fashions like most art. He borrowed from the future if that is possible.”
-Edward Ruscha, filmmaker

I’m designing a dance piece right now with a nod to Rudi Gernreich, which makes sense. Before he revolutionized fashion in 1960s, Gernreich was a dancer in Lester Horton’s company. Gernreich was also a study in contradiction. While he can be credited with such mundane but revolutionary innovations as the thong and the ‘No Bra’ bra, Gernreich was much more a modernist than a mod. Like earlier utopian idealists such as the Italian futurist Thayaht who invented the “tuta” – a utilitarian jumpsuit meant to eradicate the tyranny of fashion, Gernreich’s stylistic innovations were a fueled by his belief that “Fashion will go out of fashion.” He designed unisex garments that he thought would bring gender equality, such as the “monokini” pictured above, which unfortunately resulted in more titillation that liberation; and he created memorable images of male and female models dressed identically in elegant caftans with shaved heads. However, unlike today’s visionary designers whose clothing rarely sees a life beyond the studio or catwalk, Gernreich created high fashion for the mass market, and even lent his designs to paper patterns for the seamstress at home. He was a savvy business man who oversaw multiple collections and licensees, and deftly managed to keep his name and work in the fashion and lay press for years, including appearing on the cover of Time magazine in 1967. Indeed, Gernreich seemed to pass up few opportunites, becoming a paid endorser of products ranging from Ronrico Rum to Philadelphia Carpets. After he died, he dedicated his fortune to good works, leaving a substantial endowment to the American Civil Liberties Union earmarked for litigation and education for lesbian and gay rights. While never open about his sexuality, Gernreich had also been one of the anonymous founders of the Mattachine Society.

UPDATE
Here's a photo of two of the finished costumes for Jody Sperling's "A Leg Up":

Conference Call

2007-04-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

I felt lucky to be able to attend the recent conference The Golden Age of Gotham’s Clothing Industry: Unraveling an Enterprise, not only because I feel academics should use more puns in their titles (being sarcastic), but also because it was actually very, very interesting. It seems a little too late to give a full review, but I can say that the paper presented by Richard Greenwald and Bernard Smith really summarized nicely why this topic of study is important to historians. Not only did the garment industry at one time employ an astounding 33% of New Yorkers, but the history of clothing manufacture also resists the traditional business history paradigm of modernization. The forces of fashion made rationalization of production methods difficult, and constant style innovations made product standardization impossible. Then as now, it was the availability of cheap labor and not improvements in production methods that kept clothing prices so low. Another highlight of the event was Regina Blaszczyk’s paper on what she calls “fashion intermediaries” – those nameless, faceless multitudes who design products for the masses. In striking comparison to the ‘tastemakers’ that cater to an elite clientele, these proletarians of the creative economy are the people who really shape the aesthetic landscape.

Speaking of tastemakers, the graduate program in Fashion and Textile Studies at F.I.T. is hosting a symposium titled Focus on Fashion Journalism on Saturday, May 12, 2007. Here is the description:

Editors, writers, art directors, web designers, illustrators, photographers, and models all create the first draft of fashion history. Graduate students in the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice program present original research on the people who have made fashion news, from the 17th century to the present.

Beauty and the Beast

2007-02-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

I was watching NJN public television last night and I saw a rebroadcast of the "State of the Arts" television program that featured a ballet I designed back in 2005. It reminded me that I was going to use this blog to post pictures of my work that I've never bothered to 'portfolioize' - but boy, am I behind!

Above is a studio picture of the title characters taken by Eduardo Pantino as well as a few other photos snapped by Gabriel B. during a partial-dress rehearsal. Below is a description that appeared on the NJN website:

"State of the Arts producer Eric Schultz goes behind the scenes at the American Repertory Ballet’s (ARB) new production of the classic fairy tale, 'Beauty and the Beast.' Choreographer and ARB Artistic Director Graham Lustig has created a major new work for children and families, 'Beauty and the Beast – A Gothic Romance.' Based on Madam Le Prince De Beaumont’s story, Lustig has set the ballet in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in the 1820s with the Jersey Devil is the beast. The ballet is set to the string music of Rossini, written in the 1820s when Rossini was 12 years old. Lustig says that 'Beauty and the Beast' is the classic fable exploring the contrast between inner and outer beauty."

When Men Knew How to Accessorize

2007-01-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

I no longer have any excuse for a lack of interest in men's fashion! Some of the most exciting recent scholarship on clothing and culture proves that in the past, men have had most of the fun sartorially speaking. “A Rakish History of Men's Wear,” the small but worthwhile exhibit at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street illustrates this point exactly. Curator Paula A. Baxter has drawn from the library's prodigious collection of historical costume and fashion plates to show that from antiquity to the modern era men have led fashion with clothing that “was more innovative, suggestive, and less conservative” than their feminine counterparts. It was not until the nineteenth century that this masculine preference for decoration and display gave way to a more sober uniform, namely the tailored men's suit. Baxter suggests multiple reasons for this new restraint including puritanical prohibitions against ornamentation, the dissolution of the aristocratic class, and the rise of the English dandy. This diminutive exhibit, however, merely scratches the surface.

So long to the bikini wax

2007-01-23T20:43:00.000-08:00

An Australian designer named Aheda Zanetti has introduced the “Burkini” to give Muslim women a modest, but non-cumbersome option in beach attire. The two-piece suit features full-length pants and a hip-length long sleeved tunic with a hood that is a cross between the traditional hijab and a bathing cap. The burkini not only offers Muslim women access to new choices in leisure, but new professional opportunities as well. CNN reports that Mecca Laalaa, a 22 year old Australian woman of Arab heritage who chooses to wear a burkini has entered a ten-week training course to become a lifeguard, and plans are underway to manufacture the burkini in red and yellow, the iconic color combination of Australian lifeguards.

I wonder if a similar type of bathing suit might be adopted by members of the burgeoning "modesty movement" right here at home? Well, that's a topic for a another post!

Conference Call

2007-01-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let folks know about an upcoming conference at the CUNY Graduate Center titled “The Golden Age of Gotham’s Clothing Industry: Unraveling an Enterprise" on February 28, from 12:30PM to 8:00PM. The event is not open to the public, but those interested in attending should call 212-817-2005 to find out more about getting a seat. (Thanks Suvi!)

This will be a day-long conference on the history of the New York City garment industry. Nationally recognized historians of New York will convene for three sessions examining the economic, cultural, and social significance of the neighboring garment district and the clothing industry in the city from 1860-1975. Speakers will include Thomas Kessner, professor of history, Graduate Center; David Nasaw, distinguished professor of history and executive director of the Center for the Humanities, Graduate Center; and Marc Levinson, author of "The Box: How the Shipping Container made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger." Also speaking will be Rutger's resident fashion historian and 'material culturist' Regina Blaszczyck.

Hope to see you there!

A White Peacock in Vermont

2007-01-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

This autumn I had the pleasure a joining Jody Sperling’s Time Lapse Dance in a brief residency at Marlboro College in Vermont. The residency was made possible by the Vermont Performance Lab, and resulted in the creation of a new multi-media collaboration between Sperling, lighting designer David Ferri, architectural designer Philip Drew, and myself. One of Marloboro’s students captured this image of the first movement of the new work, called “The White Peacock.” While it is difficult to see the peacock-feather inspired beading that I stitched in iridescent sequins and glass crystals on the back of the costume, I still think it is a beautiful image. Incidentally, the peacock’s tail detaches from the gown to be used as a cape in subsequent movements of the work. Hopefully, I can locate more pictures soon!