Footsteps Dance Company – Teacher Resources
COSTUME DESIGN
HOW TO USE THIS RESOURCE:
 This resource has been created for you to use as a series of quick tasks or can be used
as an in-depth dance project. This is a “costume design” based resource using a series
of tasks to build up to creating a dance-inspired costume. Each task in the resource can
be used as a stand-alone activity if you wish to break it up into parts. This is a
particularly good idea if you only want do a short exercise with your students after their
dance class for 10 or 15 minutes!
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It can be done in groups, or individually and you can either set the Footsteps dance the
students have to use, OR they can choose their own. All tasks can be done using their
own creativity and classroom resources, although access to a computer/internet
WOULD be helpful, but not required.
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Our other weekly resources can be combined with this task to create a Footsteps dance
project. It covers areas such as a video analysis, research tasks, dance composition,
marketing ideas and personal reflections. Students could present the tasks based on
one chosen dance, or a variety of routines using a display folder, cardboard
presentation, or oral presentation with visual aids.
Tasks/Activities included in this resource:
 Short reading Task on the elements of design
 Questions and short analysis on well-recognised costumes from movies
 A costume design brief with questions regarding their chosen Footsteps dance
 A template and guidelines for a design board
 A template for a costume sketch
 A short reflection and marking sheet with teacher comment box
www.footsteps.com.au
FOOTSTEPS - COSTUME DESIGN
Today we want you to look at some ideas to get started on looking at the process of
costume design in a dance production.
Primarily, the main intention of costuming is to capture and enhance the mood,
atmosphere and intention of the dance.
You need to remember that Costume Design is not the last part of a production process.
It is not an afterthought. It should be integrated into the pre-production process with as
much importance as the music and choreography into what idea you are trying to
portray to the audience.
THE 7 ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
In preparing you to look at the areas of costume design you first need to understand the
seven basic principles used in design. These elements can be applied to any aspect of
design – not just costumes!
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Direction
Shape
Line
Tone
Colour
Space
Texture
WELL-KNOWN COSTUMES
Let’s look at some well-known costumes (not necessarily from dances!!) and what made
them so iconic.
The Mad Hatter from “Alice
Dorothy from
Superman
in Wonderland”
‘The Wizard of Oz’
QUESTIONS:
1. What are some features about these costumes that make you remember them?
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2. What do they tell you about the character?
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3. How did it help you to understand the story?
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4. How would our idea of these characters change if they were just dressed in all black
in the movie??
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THE DESIGN BRIEF:
Footsteps Dance Company would like you to design a costume for their upcoming dance
performance. Below is the information you need to know about the performance.
The Audience:
The audience for this production will be mainly school students, parents and other
family members. A key consideration for designing these costumes is that the audience
must be able to relate to the characters. You need to think about the time period and
culture of your chosen dance (style) as this will also help you with the design of your
costume. The audience will often get a better understanding of time period and culture
through costume.
The Venue:
The performance is going to take place in your local community centre hall with a large
stage area. The auditorium will be dark except for the stage area, which will be lit with
bright lights.
The Practicalities:
The costumes must achieve the desired look for the performance, but still be
comfortable and allow the dancers to move easily in them. Make sure that what you
design is hard-wearing because the costumes will be taken on and off many times by
the dancers, particularly on days with several performances. You need to consider the
dancer you are designing for and think about their age, gender, background, shape etc.
Remember the details of your dance, as this will tell you how they might use their
costume. For instance: is their hair up or down? What kind of shoes do they wear?
Next, I want you to think about the dance you learnt in your Footsteps lesson to do our
costume task on. You will be required to design a costume for this dance routine. To
help you get started, answer the following questions about the dance itself:
What is the style of the dance you learnt?
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What era and/or country did the dance style originate?
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Will they have/need props or accessories? Hats? Belts?
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What things come to mind when you think about the dance?
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MY DESIGN BOARD
Let’s create a design board. Here is where you start to get some inspiration from
pictures. Create a collage of design ideas that you like – even if it’s just the style, colour,
material, design or accessory. You can use pictures you found online, in magazines, use
a colour pencil/texta to fill in a space of the colours you like. ** You can always stick on
little swatches of material that you have collected to show different textures and
patterns that you like.
MY COSTUME
You will need to draw the costume you would like your performers to wear. If you have
created a design board you can now take your favourite ideas and create the costume
for your dance routine.
**Down the side you need to attach pieces of material (you can collect these from
things at home or you might need to visit “Spotlight” or “Lincraft” to get some!) to show
the exact choice for each different article of clothing you include in the picture.
Don’t forget to draw any accessories your dancers need to help tell their story!
REFLECTION
Write a paragraph about why you came to your final decisions regarding the costume.
Are you happy with the final costume? Would you make any changes?
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TEACHER’S COMMENTS AND FINAL MARK:
Design board
Final Costume
Total Mark:
/ 10
/ 10
/ 20
COMMENTS: __________________________________________________________
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Signed: _________________________________________ Date: _______________