Movement and Abstraction would not have been possible without everyone who was involved. I would just like to take a moment to say a massive thank you to my family and friends who have been there for me throughout my whole university experience and supported my decisions. I have met many wonderful and inspiring people along the way and I thank you all.
Model: Mike Cathro
“We are what we wear. Our costumes shape our bodies, affect the way we move, and influence the way we feel about ourselves.� Julie Diana (Journalist and Principal Dancer for the Pennsylvania Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, 2011)
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This project first began in September and has changed and developed massively over the months. There have been so many influences during the project from the Sleeping Beauty, Brothers Grimm and birds, to body movement, mark making and dance. The decision to have a predominantly male cast comes from the research I did for my dissertation (“How the material and design of costumes affect the movement and interpretation of a ballet.”) The research expanded to explore how the roles of male and female dancers have changed over time within ballet. Although this performance has developed into a contemporary dance piece rather than traditional ballet, the choice to have two male and one female dancer is still appropriate to the story.
The idea behind the story derived from Charles Perrualt’s fairytale “The Sleeping Beauty”, but also from the idea that evil can be beautiful and hides itself from view, that things are abstract, they are not what they seem. Dance performances and art can be interpreted in so many different ways, which I feel is partly why I decided to have my characters portrayed as birds rather than humans. Things are appreciated from different points of view and inspire different opinions, so this performance is not to be appreciated solely for the dance, on the story or on the costumes – it is not supposed to be seen as one thing. It is a collaboration of each aspect put together live in front of your eyes. In the same way that some of my drawings don’t always look like what they are ‘meant’ to be, the marks
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I make give the impression of birds, movement etc. A good drawing does not necessarily have to be a perfect image of the object it is based on - it can be a single mark that stands out; the process of how you make those marks is something that you learn from. While searching for a story to start me off I came across The Brothers Grimm, who inspired me to have two endings to the same story. From their idea of a mirror taking you into an alternate reality, the stories in this performance start out the same but have very different endings. It combines two different interpretations / ideas into one piece. Birds fascinate me - the way they glide through the air, expand and whip their wings, even how they are made of many layer of feather is so intriguing. The movement of birds and the way humans dance are
very similar to me, thus the reason for having my drawings/marks displayed through dance and on the human anatomy. The decision to paint my costumes onto the dancers was made through experimenting with different ways of mark making and drawing. Starting on paper I felt constricted to the conventional shape of it, therefore I thought if my drawings were going to develop into garments for the body why not draw straight onto the finished shape and onto a person. Having the freedom to be more expressive, the marks are based on the movement, shape and anatomy of birds, combined with that of humans.
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Through playing with the colours for the different characters I wanted to go against what is expected and have the characters coloured in that contrary to the usual nature of their assumed character. The Prince is dressed in black, greys, whites and brown as it is not as flamboyant as the other characters and I wanted the prince to be more unexpected. It is assumed that the flamboyant colourful character will be the royal, beautiful, good character. However, going against the conventional idea of this, the “Prince� is just like the majority of the birds that are more common around Britain. Carabosse is in brighter colours, as it makes him more inviting to the eye. In traditional interpretations of the story the evil character is often dressed in dark menacing colours, however in birds is it sometimes the more colourful inviting birds which will bite your fingers off. Aurora is dressed in blacks and red. As, again, it is going against the conventional idea of the character. She almost has a menacing feel to her, but carries it off beautifully in her grace and charm.
Model: Patrick Watts
“The painted body is a canvas for the imagination. Body-painting thus becomes a synonym for the transience of man’s creative impulse.” Karl Groning, “Decorated Skin: A world survey of body art”
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Model: Nina Falk Photography from the development test at the Plantation Gardens, Norwich.
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Ending One By channelling his grief into rage and with nothing left to lose the Prince defeats Carabosse; leaving the colourful bird motionless on the floor. The Prince returns to the side of his love, believing she is dead he is in desperation. However, little to the Prince’s knowledge, by defeating Carabosse, the deep sleep in which he had put Aurora lifted and she awakes from her slumber. As she awakens the realisation of how she had been blinded by her selfish and image obsessed personality, hits Aurora. She had nearly been deceived into a terrible fate because she had fallen in to the trap hidden behind a beautiful camouflage. The Prince’s confusion was replaced by joy and happiness at the revival of Aurora. They join together and celebrate their victory in a true lover’s duet. Ending Two Angered by Aurora’s rejection and refusing to be defeated by another male, Carabosse gathers all his strength and ferociousness into defeating the Prince. Although unsuccessful in the attempt to force Aurora to do what he wanted, Carabosse succeeds in defeating the Prince. Carabosse celebrates by performing a solo.
Model: Danielle Rounds
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Model: Josie Clouting
“Ballet honours its past by periodically reinventing it…[it] continues to find beauty in the struggle of the human body to overcome its limitations…” G. Jonas