One of the most used shoes by professional ballet dancers
gets a start here in the states by opening up a store in New York City. Many
have heard of the Freed name after they created red pointe shoes worn by Moira
Shearer in the motion picture classic, The Red Shoes. This just shows how the
success of dance on film has a huge impact on the dance world!
Costumes Throughout The History Of Dance
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
And All That Jazz! 1966
Jazz is sweeping the nation by storm and bringing a unique
sense of style with them. Peaking into the dance studios of Jack Coles dance
workshop at Columbia Pictures in Hollywood I got a chance to see some dancers
training for their roles in movies and television. What they were wearing was
definitely a change from a ballet class I’d seen at New York City Ballet. Many
of the male dancers were wearing pants rather than tights that seem to be
popular around here. These “jazz pants” are tight around the thighs and flare
into bell-bottoms starting from the knee. Men pair these pants with a tight
fitting shirt and jazz shoes. Jazz shoes are different from your ballet show or
heeled shoe, mostly made of leather, they lace up the front and contour the
foot giving a dancer a streamlined look. Women seem to be ditching their pink
tights and opting for the sexier version, fishnets. Paired with a leotard or short dress and
heels these women are showing off their long lean legs while kicking them as
high as their face. In Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity you can see this popular style
for women, plus it’s a great show!
Jerome Robbins, West Side Story wins an Academy Award! 1961
It’s no wonder that this broadway hit made it to film, and
got an award! This show is one of my favorites with incredible songs,
choreography, cinematography and of course, costumes! What is so great about
Broadway shows is the use of costumes that reflect the time period, and the
trends of the era while still being fit for dancing. In West Side Story the
females dresses compliment their roles in the film. The Puerto Rican girls have
dresses with ruffles and flare, in bright colors like red, orange and purple.
They resemble flamenco dresses that would be worn in Puerto Rico. Now on the
other hand, the American “Jets” have dresses that reflect their style. Peasant
blouses with skirts synched at the waist is a current trend that was adapted
for the film. Rather than the bright colors of the Sharks the Jets tend to wear
more neutral or pastel colors. The costumes are well thought out and make each
of the groups stand out while reflecting their personalities.
SharksJets
Night Journey 1947
It was a privilege to watch the infamous Martha Graham
tonight in her newest work Night Journey. Night Journey is the re-telling of
the famous Grecian myth containing Oedipus and his wife Jocasta, who is also
his mother. This work demonstrates Martha’s ability to take an already told
story and adapt it to be expressed not only through movement but also a
different way of seeing the story. The piece is focused around the moment of
death of the wife and mother of Oedipus. Death is a brief moment but this work
takes you on a night journey through her life leading up until her death. What
made this piece so effective in my opinion was her well thought out use of
props, lighting and costumes. For this piece the female lead and ensemble women
were dressed in all black that gave an eerie and dark feel to the piece. The
flowing skirts balanced out the stiff and clunking movement that the
choreography contained. The black dresses did contain a few seams that were a
contrast in color. These lines contoured the body and showed off the musculature
of the dancers without having to reveal the skin. The ensemble women wearing
the same dress made their movement look uniform, as if they were one unit. What
I did not quite understand about the costume choice was the use of headpieces.
The ensemble women had twig-like silver pieces coming out from the crown of
their head while Martha had a statement headpiece. Martha’s headpiece (pictured
below) was stunning and useful but the ensembles were personally distracting.
1944 Jerome Robbins and American Ballet Theatre
What a change for the ballet, with Robbins as the choreographer
for ABT the ballet Fancy Free really incorporated a wonderful mix of jazz and
ballet into a comedic and exciting show. Robbins chose costumes similar to what
you might see in some of his famous Broadway works. Instead tights and ballet
shoes dancers were wearing clothes that looked as if they had bought them off
of Broadway Street in New York. The women were wearing dresses that matched the
time period and the men were dancing, jumping and turning in a sailor’s outfit!
Balanchine stripped away the costumes but Robbins is making it look as if the
dancers walked off of the street and on to the stage!
March 1, 1935, American Ballet, Adelphi Theater, New York
What an amazing experience! I just saw Balanchine’s new work
Serenade on it’s opening weekend at American Ballet Theatre. After Diaghileve’s
death in 1929 I wasn’t sure if Balanchine’s work would continue, or be as
popular. Moving to the United States was a risk but worked out well for
Balanchine. Serenade is the first original ballet George Balanchine created in
America and is surely going to become a timeless classic. Balanchine began the
ballet as a lesson in stage technique and it then morphed into a ballet to Tchaikovsky’s
beautiful score Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. Of course I paid particular
attention the costumes. Designed by Jean Lurçat, all the females were in the
same costume which was a light blue camisole leotard with long tulle skirt
attached. Although the legs were covered the tulle was sheer and flowed
beautifully with the movement. When the dancers would jump or kick their legs
the skirt would move with them and then linger as they floated back down into
place. It was gorgeous and really added something special to the piece. Another
interesting aspect to this ballet regarding costumes was that all the women,
even the soloists, looked the same. This uniformity lulled the audience and
when a soloist would break away from the corps it came as a wonderful surprise
that caught the audiences the attention.
Denishawn school performs Orientalia (Radha) 1930
Recently I had the privilege of seeing a performance from
the Denishawn school. I have heard of the work that Ruth St. Dennis and Ted
Shawn have been doing but I truly understood their ideas after seeing an
Orientalia. Influenced by Eastern dance movement (like the majority of the
training at the school) this performance was nothing like I had seen before. Incorporating
aspects of East Indian movement this mini-ballet was set in a Hindu temple. The
piece was titled Radha and was created to honor and explore the five senses.
Radha involved exotically dressed women and adorned sets. The women were
dressed in ankle length skirts that flowed as they moved through space and
trailed behind them as they spun. What I found most enticing was the adornment
on the upper body. The dancers wore large jeweled earrings, bracelets and
headpieces along with a cropped top covered in several different strands of
jewels. The costumes were extremely detailed and very closely resembled the
attire of Indian ritualistic dress. Overall the piece was captivating because
of both the movement and costumes. Denishawn is bringing a style of dance that
not many have seen before. I look forward to seeing more from Dennis and Shawn.
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