Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

Ballet, in my opinion, is one of the worlds greatest art forms and I just find it amazing how much it emotion it can bring to the audience and how it can manage to tell a story with dance, set, costume and no words.

This Christmas BBC2 played the New Adventure’s Sleeping Beauty. Although I went to see this last year with some girlfriends it was also lovely to watch it in my sitting room with family and to me it really showed a dramatic difference between live viewing and TV. On one hand I would say going to watch it live, like anything, is so much better in the sense that atmosphere from the audience is buzzing and there is nothing more dramatic than listening to a live orchestra play Tchaikovsky’s score- it never fails to give me goose bumps. However, watching it on TV was great as it allowed me to see the close up details of costume which, as a student studying costume for performance, is something I really appreciate. The costumes really do look different close up and from a distance which is helping me understand more why there is such a difference between designing for theatre or film & TV.

A few months ago I went with my classmates backstage to see the costumes (designed by Philip Prowse) for Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty and then to see it live the following evening. It was fun to see the costumes in the flesh and then on stage but also incredibly interesting to see how different they looked from a distance. The classical ballet costumes were stunning but completely different compared to Lez Brotherston’s for Matthew Bourne’s choreography.

Birmingham Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty.
Note the use of block colour in the costumes to create distinctive shapes that can be seen from a distance and that compliment the choreography.

Birmingham Royal  Ballet's Backstage Costume Department.
Even in costumes for stage, designers include stunning
embellishments and trimmings that are picked up in the light when
on stage.

Birmingham Royal  Ballet's Backstage Costume Department

Matthew Bourne finally finished his trio of Tchaikovsky’s ballets with Sleeping Beauty last year and his interpretation of The Nutcracker 1992 in and Swan Lake in 1995. I went to see was Swan Lake I think in 2007 and I was absolutely blown away by his innovative and genius choreography combined with Tchaikovsky’s score. Instead of the classical female swans in pretty white tutus he uses male swans in tasselled breeches to resemble feathers and a bare chest which not only adds a particularly raw quality to the performance but enhances the dance moves as the lighting reflects on their muscles as they move. This one of his in particular is a must see!

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake.
Tasselled breeches are cleverly used to resemble feathers and the bare chest adds a particularly raw quality to the performance.

His take on Sleeping Beauty involved vampires and fairies with a gothic twist that spreads from the Victorian era through to the 21^st Century in three acts. His contemporary choreography isn't too out there so it is good for a younger audience. I couldn't help but notice elements of Michael Jackson's Thriller in the production, particularly in the third act! It is elements like that which makes Bourne's productions so easy and fun to watch and suitable for any audience.

One of the things I love most about Matthew Bourne is the comedic element he brings to all his productions. It must be so difficult to make people laugh at a ballet without it coming across as tacky so I really applaud him for that. So often when I go to watch ballet I usually don’t follow the story and I find myself distracted by the set and costumes – how can you not?! But I always find that I understand the story line a lot better for any of Bourne’s productions.

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty
Costumes by Lez Brotherston

If you are new to ballet or have never been that interested by it, going to see one of the performances by New Adventure’s would be a great place to start. Swan Lake is on at the moment at Sadler's Wells until January 2014. Buy tickets here quick as they sell out fast! Their production of Lord of the Flies (choreographed by Scott Ambler and adapted and directed by Scott Ambler and Matthew Bourne) starts touring in Spring 2014. Check their website for more details.

I leave you with a clip from the BBC with Matthew Bourne and the history of his work.

V&A membership: Pearls; Club to Catwalk

Today I had an interview at the Royal College of Music for my work placement at the beginning of 2014 so I will be working there for a few weeks along with a Bridal company based in Bristol so I'm super excited!
Whilst I was in Kensington I decided to go to the V&A for the last time in 2013 to abuse my membership as I'm going to the Isle of Wight tomorrow for Christmas and to work for a few weeks.

The V&A membership is fantastic, especially for students who live in London. The standard price is £64 which is still great value but if you are under 26, for £35 you get unlimited entry to all V&A exhibitions, a discount in the shop, the V&A magazine (I think it's seasonal) and access to the members room which is very exciting! I personally think it is such a good deal as you need to go to approximately 4 exhibitions to get your money's worth. My boyfriend got me mine as a gift last Christmas - such a great present!

Buy yours here.

Club to Catwalk
Today I went to the Club to Catwalk exhibition which is open until February 16th 2014 and a student ticket is £5 which I think is a good price for what it is. The exhibition shows London fashion from 1980s showcasing many innovative designers. I partly love going to exhibitions to learn about all the talented artists and designers out there and I personally think this is the best way to learn. Some of my favourite designers featured were: Chrissie Walsh, Michiko Koshino, Willy Brown, John Galliano, Anthony Prince, Zandra Rhodes, Pam Hogg and Georgina Godley.

John Galliano - The Lucid Game Collection

Georgina Godley - 1986
1987 Vogue: 'Stretch is fashion's dynamic force, a challenge for designer and wearer alike... It's the sexiest dressing yet, hiding the body and at the same time showing its every movement.'

Chrissie Walsh - inspired by the Ballet Russes

Willie Brown

Pearls
I also went to the Pearls exhibition which is on until January and is £7 for a student. I really enjoyed learning about the process behind harvesting natural pearls and how the beauty of them is that they are simply natural and need no further enhancements unlike any other jewel.

At university I study costume design and have been studying visual culture as well in my past term. So particularly when studying period costume I do a lot of looking at paintings and thinking about symbolism so I particularly liked learning about what the pearls symbolised in different centuries. For example, in medieval times they symbolised perfection and purity. In the 'Portrait of an unknown lady' (shown below) from 1595 the pearls symbolise fertility. In Victorian times Queen Victoria was described to be having a 'gladiatorial contest with jewels displayed as weapons.' and in 1861 she wore black mourning pearls upon Albert's death.

Portrait of an Unknown lady
1595

I didn't get around to seeing Masterpieces of Chinese paintings but that in open until January 19th so I intend to go in the new year. I am also very excited to see future exhibitions such as 'The Jameel Prize 3' (an art prize for contemporary artists inspired by Islamic traditions) which opens tomorrow and 'Wedding Dresses 1775 - 2014' which opens in May. I think once I do my placement at the Bridal company I will be even more excited for this one! Who doesn't love wedding dresses?!

Fashion and Science!

At London College of Fashion we are lucky enough to have an exhibition space which holds regular, free exhibitions based around global fashion, photography, and installation.
Currently the Fashion Space Gallery is holding an exhibition on glass in contemporary art: Glasstress: White Light | White Heat. It focusses on contemporary artists working in glass for the first time including Boudicca, Lucy and Jorge Orta, Hussein Chalayan, and Helen Storey.

Helen Storey- 'The Dress of Glass and Flame

 "The visible, gaseous part of a fire is caused by a highly exothermic reaction, taking place in a thin zone. Heat is so intense it excites the molecules enough to produce light."

Tim Noble and Sue Webster - Glass Narcissus

Koen Vanmechelen

This sort of work is the kind of work I love: exploring the boundaries with different materials. This work crosses somewhere in between fashion, art and science which makes art more like an experiment as opposed to something that is stereotypically appealing to the eye.

The exhibition is open until 23rd February 2014 located at London College of Fashion, John Prince's Street - just off of Oxford Street. Something you can just pop in to have a quick browse after doing a bit of shopping! As a student I feel very lucky to be able to pop into the exhibit in between lectures. Do go and have a look for yourselves!