Matthew Bourne’s gothic romance ballet
On Saturday I went to see Matthew Bourne’s Ballet and I was blown away by the creativity and spin on Sleeping beauty. It was packed with a gothic romance, exquisite dancing and fabulous costumes. Being interested in fashion I did a bit of research into the costume designer and I found an interview with the costume designer Lez Brotherston by the V&A, which I have included a little snip it of.
Brotherston in his studio.
Snip it of interview by V&A with Lez Brotherston.
Influences
‘Different projects, films, books, you look at different things. What I look at changes all the time. What kind of production will it be like? It grows from that. Basically it goes back to the script, that’s the way I was taught. If you get stuck, read the play again. There’s no point looking at twenty paintings, the play will tell you.’Being unpopular is part of a designer’s job.
“Now I do the bad guy bit. I’ve done the bit where I design it. I’ve done the bit where I’ll come up with anything you want… and now I’m saying you haven’t got enough money to do this”.
Dancing in ‘real clothes’
‘Period costumes have to move with the body, but dancers like tight-fitting costumes. However, a jacket that fits too snugly will rise with the arms and stay up. The battle is to get the dancers to accept looser fittings that move up and down the body.
To see more of the interview go to:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/lez-brotherston-in-conversation/
