The constrictions of the difficult times we are living in often prompt us to give up our hopes and dreams. Yet the trick to get on in life is to maintain a certain degree of optimism and not let yourself being overcome by the fears, anxieties and oppression we encounter on our paths.
Marguerite Donlon, the Irish choreographer and Director of the Donlon Dance Company, moved from these thoughts while working on a new piece.
Entitled "Wings" and staged in October at the Saarbrücken Opera House, the piece invites people not to give up hope, but invoke the power of imagination to overcome the inexplicable tragedies in life. Donlon took inspiration from the strength of Irish people to tell a story about ordinary heroes who fight to keep their dreams alive.
In Donlon's choreography the dancers from the Ballet of the Saarland State Theatre engage in a real physical fight (there is always a strong physicality in Donlons' pieces) on the notes of a mesmerising composition by Gavin Bryars entitled “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet” in which an old homeless man sings with a frail voice on an orchestral soundscape.
The "Wings" music also includes a sound installation by Sam Auinger, sampling the noises of a urban motorway, stage design by Cecile Bouchier and a visual installation by Florian Penner.
Donlon turned to a young fashion designer better known for her knitwear and crocheted pieces, Laura Theiss, to make sure her story was told in an even more striking way.
Theiss explored in her previous works the theme of flying employing in her designs butterflies motifs, but this time she had to apply her skills and knowledge to pieces that had to evoke concepts such as fear, hope and freedom rather than literally represent them. Turning to a dark palette comprising black, grey and dove with some plum added in, the designer employed a series of different techniques to help Donlon's telling her story. In one costume Theiss for example added a simple woollen strip that tied the dancer's wrists, and that perfectly hinted at the constraints and pressures that chain and trap us in our lives.
While working on this project, Theiss also developed a new creative process that followed the rhythms of Donlon's choreography, discovering that, despite there is a trend for designers producing for the stage, costume design is extremely different from fashion design, but it's also intriguing since it challenges your ideas and solutions, while allowing you to work with other professionals in a very stimulating environment.
How did you and Marguerite Donlon got to collaborate together?
Laura Theiss: Marguerite Donlon and I were introduced to each other at one event in Saarbrücken, Germany. She is a fascinating and inspirational person and we seemed to have lots to talk about. We shared our thoughts about the way we find inspiration for our work, and stories about our past and recent projects. I had just started to work on my new knitwear collection and Marguerite had also started focusing on her new ballet piece. We found some parallels in our new projects and agreed to meet again soon and talk more about possible collaborations. That same night I went back home and sat down at the computer to research Gavin Bryars' music. A few days later I was already designing the costumes.
What fascinated you about the story?
Laura Theiss: It's a special one and very emotional as well, since it reminds you not to give up on your dreams, but stand up and live through the hard times.
This was the first time you worked on costumes for a ballet/dance company, what prompted you to accept this project?
Laura Theiss: In the past I had a few offers to create costumes for theatrical pieces. I never accepted since I didn't feel ready. I wanted to be honest with myself as theatre costumes require a very special knowledge. Things changed when Marguerite Donlon suggested to collaborate on "Wings" since this was a new ballet that had to be created from scratch. I absolutely loved the story behind it and the fact that I had total freedom, could create new characters and be actively involved in the piece, offered me a new point of view and perspective.
Which were the most difficult parts of this project and how long have you been working on it?
Laura Thess: The working process - from the idea to the premiere - took us 6 weeks. It was all very fast: choosing the materials, translating the ideas into fabric and knitwear, creating the costumes, doing the fittings, taking decisions and doing the changes when and if they were needed. I worked as we went along, proceeding scene after scene. The creative work also included underwear designs, plus, obviously, making sure that the make up and hairstyles went well with all the rest. I don't have much knowledge of ballet in general, yet my fashion background secures me a good knowledge of body movements and shapes. This allowed me to instinctively guess a lot of things about dancing, while also taking more risks and pushing the boundaries a bit more. I had to create costumes that worked in harmony with the dancers' bodies, and could help them telling the story. The most difficult part was the fittings and the many decisions we had to quickly take on the tiny details such as fastenings and seams, plus making sure that the garments worked well on stage.
In one part of the ballet two dancers moved as if they were standing in front of a mirror and their costumes reproduce the same effect (fifth image in this post): did you closely work with the choreographer to achieve those effects?
Laura Theiss: I spent a lot of weeks watching Marguerite Donlon creating the piece, and sketched the ideas as she came up with the movements. Sometimes I showed her my sketches immediately, in other cases I needed more time to improve the looks. One main point was making sure that the costumes reflected the movements of the dancers. For example, the tulle kilts for the male dancers came to my mind after seeing a rehearsal of a scene featuring 6 dancers representing the human fight for freedom. In that specific case you mentioned I had a drawing of one silver crocheted wing. Marguerite Donlon saw it and said she would need another one to complete the left and right side of the choreography. The way Marguerite Donlon works inspired me a lot: seeing the piece coming together movement after movement was amazing. She did it with so much concentration yet very naturally, almost effortlessly. I guess only someone who works as hard as her can get the best out of the others. She motivated the entire team.
While working on your designs did you speak to the dancers to understand which were their needs costume-wise and did you have to adapt any designs according to their movements/body?
Laura Theiss: As a fashion designer I'm more used to models who either say amazing things about your work or don't say anything, so, at the very beginning, I found it hard to accept the dancers' comments. And I guess the dancers also needed some time to get used to my presence as well, but this process of mutual acceptance was extremely valuable. I had to do some little changes to make sure movements were really comfortable, but, since the creative work of the choreographer continues until the piece is very close to the premiere, the costume designer has got to remain flexible until the very end. For example, we had to change the bandou bra on each female dancer a few times to make sure they really fitted, but in the end it worked well.
Did you also have to use special yarns for the costumes?
Laura Theiss: I used Spring/Summer yarns - cotton and cotton blends with silk, but also lurex, metallic yarn. I avoided using wool on the main pieces as it wouldn't have been practical and it would have ben too warm, but I used it in the bondage dress and mask as the yarn had the right texture for those garments. I mainly employed Italian yarns by Ecafil and Toscano, companies that make very beautiful summery yarns. For the crocheted dress I first made all the small crocheted bits and pieces and then I linked them together on the dummy. The black crochet dress was instead done using "digital crocheting": the pattern was kaleidoscoped on a computer and then crocheted from different angles. It looked like a tattoo on the dancers' body. Not all the costumes included knitted or crocheted elements, for a good balance we turned to silk tulle and silk jersey fabrics as well.
Did you work with any special costume workshop?
Laura Theiss: Saarbrücken Opera House has its own atelier where they make costumes for the theatre, opera and ballet. The atelier has a men and women's costume department, plus a shoe maker, hat maker and make up and hair department, and, obviously, a big archive of costumes. I met the most amazing people there - all of them passionate about their work. We worked very well with them. It is very important to produce costumes in a specialised atelier as the seams have to last throughout a lot of performances and washing sessions as well. Besides, experimenting a lot at the atelier helped us finding new shapes to reach innovative effects. This happened for example while we were working on the black long silk tulle dress for a male dancer as we wanted to make sure we created a dress characterised by a sort of masculine strength. There were 22 dancers in the show and each of them had at least 2-3 fittings for each garment and every single fitting looked like a performance with the dancers moving and dancing around. As the days passed, I started getting a feel for it and was able to do a fitting with 4 or 5 dancers at once.
How did you feel when the show was staged?
Laura Theiss: The premiere was magical. It was really breathtaking seeing all the elements working together. So many people were involved in making the piece and I realised that the adrenaline rush you have during a fashion show is nothing compared with the premiere of a ballet show. Your nerves are really pushed to the edge. We had a full theatre and in the end all went well, it was a big success marked by a standing ovation. I felt people understood our work, the way we created a story in which music, choreography, costumes, and visual effects were in perfect harmony.
Would you recommend other fashion designers to get some costume design experience?
Laura Theiss: Yes, I definitely would. But you must be ready for it. It looks like it is getting more and more popular for fashion designers to create costumes for the stage and I guess it's because this allows us to push ourselves away from our own story and try a new path, creating for somebody else's story but doing so with our own interpretation and confidence in mind. Yet you must be ready to do it!
Do you feel you have now acquired new skills and would you do it again or would you ever launch your line of dancewear?
Laura Theiss: I really enjoyed the process of creating for the stage, so I would do it again. I definetely got some new skills and will take my experience back into the fashion world. My next collection will indeed include fine crocheted dresses and prints on transparent fabrics that will guarantee freedom of movement. I am currently working on a new webshop and I may develop some pieces of dancewear for my customers and fans who may be not only into fashion, but also into dance.
Wings
Dance piece by Marguerite Donlon
Choreography, Concept: Marguerite Donlon
Music: Gavin Bryars, Sam Auinger, Claas Willeke
Stage: Cecile Bouchier
Costumes: Laura Theiss
Video: Florian Penner
Light: Fred Pommerehn
Dramatist: Anja von Witzler
Image Credits for this post:
1. to 5. All photographs by Bettina Stoess
2. Dancers Youn Hui and Randolf Ward
3. Dancers Hsin-I Huang and Masayoshi Katori
5. Dancers Leonore Lagrenade and Sarah Schmidt
6.-10. Laura Theiss Lookbook photos: All photographs by Jennifer Weyland; Model Miki Wakabayashi; Make-Up and Hair: Dorit Schneemann
11.-14. Laura Theiss costumes, details, and Laura Theiss at work; all photographs courtesy Laura Theiss
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