Rambert | lily-designs

Wall (by Pierre Tappon)

Pierre Tappon, a choreographer and dancer at Ballet Rambert, sent requests to costume students to design a costume design to be worn by the dancer performing his one man solo piece 'Wall'. Pierre was really terrific to work with because he was really clear about the sort of design he was looking for. He sent lots of images which he used as inspiration while he was choreographing.

The Place (One of the theatres where the dance is performing) writes:

Contemporary dance meets a flute solo of JS Bach’s Partita in A minor, BWV 1013. Inspired by a recent trip to Berlin, this is the emotional journey of a man as his perceptions of his surroundings and struggles change. Wall represents the boundaries of our lives - the piece explores why they are important to us and how they affect us.

Walls have an extreme importance in modern society, providing shelter and comfort by constituting our houses. But more generally they are there to shape space, giving direction and defining what’s mine to yours (borders, wall of a room, membranes). It is also our way to lock things away, making one safer and sometimes suppressing others lives (prisons, concentration camps). However our biggest wall is most probably the one that blocks our mind to see beyond and act further, fluctuating between providing us stability and being our worst enemy.

See more at: http://www.theplace.org.uk/pierre-tapponjoel-and-pete-inky-cloakthe-company#sthash.uogRj9gJ.dpuf

Pierre's black and white photos started the train of thought of making a monochromatic costume. I tried to apply what we were taught at university on how to design a costume that will not appear dated as time passes. This is why I decided to stick with very basic tailoring and every-day items of clothing, and focussed on details.

The only adjustment I had to make to the design was to make the sleeves slightly longer to allow the dancer to slide up and down the wall more easily and give him socks. When the shirt was all made up we could see that it stopped too suddenly at the trousers so it needed some detailing to make it more animated and in tune with the trousers.

As the dance progresses, Daniel (the dancer) has to make more extreme movements, bending his knees further and sweeping his feet higher. The knees of the trousers had to be cut eventually as the fabric does not have a four way stretch. I would have happily included this in the original design.	The scraps of fabric sewn onto the trousers were to create some dynamism, hopefully making them look less like ordinary trousers and a bit more abstract, but without being distracting. Even though they will probably be too far away for an audience member to notice, I wanted to create an image of layers of corrugated iron.	The smudgy-ness of the black, pleasingly, reminds viewers of the marks of a cheaply printed newspaper.

Wall (by Pierre Tappon)

As the dance progresses, Daniel (the dancer) has to make more extreme movements, bending his knees further and sweeping his feet higher. The knees of the trousers had to be cut eventually as the fabric does not have a four way stretch. I would have happily included this in the original design.

The smudgy-ness of the black, pleasingly, reminds viewers of the marks of a cheaply printed newspaper.