LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•To gain knowledge and
understanding of Section C of the
written examination.
•To analyse the use of costume in
Bird Song and four other
professional works.
Homework
• Create a mind map that will act as a
revision guide/ essay plan for the Section
C costume essay.
• Practise writing your essay on costume
• Revise in preparation for writing an essay
on costume in your next lesson.
SECTION C
• ESSAY QUESTION 20 MARKS
• FOCUS: COSTUME
POSSIBLE ESSAY QUESTIONS
1)
Explain the ways in which the use of
costume can contribute to the
understanding and appreciation of dance
works. You should make reference to
‘Bird Song’ and four other Dance works
in your answer.
2)
What should be considered when
choosing costumes for dance works?
You should make reference to ‘Bird Song’
and four other Dance works in your
answer.
The four professional works
•
PETROUCHKA’ (1911)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY MICHEL FOKINE
•
CROSS CHANNEL’ (1992)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY LEA ANDERSON
• GHOST DANCES’ (1981)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
• ‘SWANSONG’ (1987)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
HOW DOES COSTUME
CONTRIBUTE?
REALISTIC COSTUME
DEPICTS GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
COSTUME RESTRICTS MOVEMENT
DEPICTS AN EVENT/OCCASION
ABSRACT COSTUME
EMPHASISES BODY ALIGNMENT
EMPHASISES AND HIGHLIGHTS CERTAIN MOVEMENT
DEPICTS SETTING/LOCATION
DEPICTS ERA
DISTINGUISHES GENDER
TO ENHANCE FLOW
CONTRASTING COSTUME TO DISTINGUISH DIFFERENT CHARACTERS
USE OF COLOUR
USE OF MASKS
PORTRAYS THE STYLE
TO DISTINGUISH SOCIAL STATUS
USING THE COSTUME WITHIN THE CHOREOGRAPHY
‘BIRD SONG’ (2004)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY SIOBHAN DAVIES
COSTUME DESIGN
TYPE OF COSTUME
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COSTUME AND HOW IT
PORTRAYS DANCE IDEA OR AFFECTS
CHOREOGRAPHY
ABSRACT COSTUME Costume is simple and has no meaning. Davies
does not want the costume to distract from the
movement content
EMPHASISES BODY Costume defines the shape of the dancers bodies
ALIGNMENT
emphasising body alignment.
EMPHASISES AND
HIGHLIGHTS
CERTAIN
MOVEMENTS
Davies deliberately chose vests and sleeveless
tunics to emphasise and highlight arm gestures.
‘PETROUCHKA’ (1911)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY MICHEL FOKINE
• Stimulus: This ballet is set in Admiralty
Square, St Petersburg, Russia during the
Butter Week Fair in 1830. A Magician
brings three puppets to life and the dance
explores their relationship with each other.
‘PETROUCHKA’ (1911)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY MICHEL FOKINE
COSTUME DESIGN
TYPE OF COSTUME
REALISTIC
COSTUME
DEPICTS
GEOGRAPHICAL
LOCATION
COSTUME
RESTRICTS
MOVEMENT
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COSTUME AND HOW IT
PORTRAYS DANCE IDEA OR AFFECTS
CHOREOGRAPHY
Costume is realistic, typical of Russian traditional
dress in 1830.
Detailed, textured costume has lots of layers
depicting geographic location as it reflects the cold
Russian climate
Lots of layers make the costume heavy therefore
restricting movement.
Costume depicts an event: The Butter Week Fair.
DEPICTS AN
The celebratory occasion is reflected in the
EVENT/OCCASION traditional, elaborate, smart costume.
‘CROSS CHANNEL’ (1992)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY LEA ANDERSON
• Stimulus: This Dance is about a journey
from London to Calais across the channel.
The Dance is filmed on location.
‘CROSS CHANNEL’ (1992)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY LEA ANDERSON
COSTUME DESIGN
TYPE OF COSTUME
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COSTUME AND HOW IT
PORTRAYS DANCE IDEA OR AFFECTS
CHOREOGRAPHY
Anderson associated the dancers costume with leisure
DEPICTS
SETTING/LOCATIO time and work. The Men wore cycling outfits when
cycling to Dover and orange boiler suits when leading
N
cars onto the ferry. The women wore swimming costumes
in the beach scenes.
DEPICTS ERA
DISTINGUISHES
GENDER
TO ENHANCE FLOW
Anderson depicts the 1950’s through the women’s dresses
and bathing suits which are clearly a recognition of
fashion in this era.
The costumes are stereotypical the men wear suits to
show masculinity and the women wear dresses to show
femininity.
The dresses worn by the women in the corridor motif add
flow to the movements when the dancers are turning
‘SWANSONG’ (1987)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER
BRUCE
• Stimulus: This dance is based on the
Chilean situation in the 1970,s where
General Pinochet’s regime was
responsible for the murder and torture of
thousands of innocent people. The dance
is a trio, two dancers represent the
Pinochet guards and the other dancer is
their victim. Throughout the dance the
guards intimidate and interrogate the
innocent victim.
‘SWANSONG’ (1987)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
COSTUME DESIGN
TYPE OF COSTUME
CONTRASTING
COSTUME TO
DISTINGUISH
DIFFERENT
CHARACTERS
USE OF COLOUR
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COSTUME AND HOW IT
PORTRAYS DANCE IDEA OR AFFECTS
CHOREOGRAPHY
Bruce uses the costume to distinguish characters.
The military style uniform defines the guards and
the civilian, casual everyday clothes of pink T-shirt
and jeans show the victim.
The use of colour is important as the audience
associates green/khaki with the military
‘GHOST DANCES’ (1981)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER
BRUCE
• Stimulus: This Dance is also based on the
Chilean situation in the 1970,s.There are
three ghosts who represent the Pinochet
regime and the other dancers represent
the innocent villagers.
‘GHOST DANCES’ (1981)
CHOREOGRAPHED BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
COSTUME DESIGN
TYPE OF COSTUME
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COSTUME AND HOW IT
PORTRAYS DANCE IDEA OR AFFECTS
CHOREOGRAPHY
USE OF MASKS
The three ghosts wear masks. The skull masks have
hollow eyes, no flesh and exaggerated teeth. The masks
are used to enhance the costume and make more impact,
The long straggling hair emphasises the jerky isolated
head movement. Bruce uses masks to represent death and
the Pinochet regime.
PORTRAYS THE
STYLE
The use of skirt from side to side also emphasises
the folk dance style.
TO DISTINGUISH
SOCIAL STATUS
The different costume of the people show different
social classes the rich people wear suits the poor
people wear rags.
USING THE
The women swish their skirts from side to side. The
COSTUME WITHIN flowing material of the skirt really helps emphasise
THE
the movement content.
CHOREOGRAPHY