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Essential Acts

carlinmwragg
October 30, 2011

Essential Acts

Notes toward costume design for Elizabeth Streb's "Essentialist Acts." Presentation by EunYoung Kang, with Kemeya Harper.

carlinmwragg

October 30, 2011
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  1. I. ZIP LINE Two lines run horizontally along the length

    of the armory Event: 6 dancers hang on to zip line and ride from one side to the other picking up speed and then slamming into a grayish mat IDEAS? • the lines: - the two lines are the only thing illuminated, until impact on the grey mat. - make the lines light up, but in a way that is timed with the bodies' accelleration forward; the light effect has history, behaves like a trail. • moment of impact: - what if the the mat expanded like the billowing clouds of a rocket taking off? - the grey mat is wired for audio, to capture the sound of impact - confetti packs hidden around the perimeter of mat explode upon impact, and reflect in the light - strips of light, arranged so that they move out from the center like the look of warp speed, pulse for the center out in reaction to impact • outfit: - full body suit - single color, I think super-reflective day glo colors - some long, linear contour embellishments of black (like velvet.. so it relfects zero light) to enhance and elongate the figure. Maybe suggest the shape of a comet. - maybe thermochromatic fabric? Maybe at highst point of accelaration the dancer passes through a distinct tempurature shift so that the outfit changes color before impact.
  2. II. WAVE: WATER DANCE A square pool of water in

    the middle of the space is used as a base for a dance Event: 6 dancers (Jackie and Cassie for sure are in this) Act as waves or splashes, bodies in water, trails of water IDEAS? • A square pool of water. - A light from below shines through the pool where the dancers perform their movements. - Above the dancers is a blank wall, this reveals them in silhouette. - A camera captures this image and projects it on a large screen behind, creating the sense that the dancers onstage are dancing with their shadows. - Meanwhile, the water is strategically heated in specific zones. As the dancers pass through the zones, they reveal swirling convection currents which spiral and play with their movements. • Outfit - The dancers costumes "remember" the water play. - They wear body suits that reach their ankles, and have a racing back. - The suit fabric turns the heat generated by the dancers' in motion into heat that radiates from the suit into the water, triggering new currents. - The suits texture is influenced by the path of the convection currents. -Fabric is retroreflective and waxed to catch the light as water rolls off the material, drawing together the shapes in shadow and the dancers' bodies.
  3. III. BUNJI: KISS THE WATER 2 dancers (Leo and Daniel)

    and harnessed in a bungee and fall from a truss above almost touching the water beneath them IDEAS? • environment: - simple, non-intrusive and black/dark - maybe video in background of very abstracted ripple shapes moving from the floor towards the sky - opposite direction of the dancer who is falling. • outfit: - made of fabric that is extremely light weight, so that it catches the wind easily and with drama - colors: a mixture of blues, purples, white... mottled, with one color melting into the next - I imagine the outfit to be something of a bag, when the body is elongated the garment is at it's fullest/most baggy so that it can undulate in the wind on the way down. OR - have webbing between the arm and waist, and, between the legs (like a flying squirrel)
  4. X. HUMAN FOUNTAIN Three-tiered scaffolding that was inspired by the

    Belagio fountains Event: 16 dancers do fountain patterns off each tier Duration 15 minutes IDEAS? 1.To emphasize beauty of bodyline // invisible vs. visible subject • Environment: dark, that you can easily to see neon color • Outfit / how? Attach EL wire on their body suit along side parts affected by gravity-free physical reaction; Switch will be attach on their shoes sole (nike ipod sensor), once their jumping off spring board, the EL wire will turning on which means dancers are bright when they are floated from the ground. It can help dancers to emphasize their body movements. • Audience: you can hide dancer’s movement while they are change the position 2. Metaphor_the lights as flash bulb remind us that the pnumatic launchers are borrowed from Hollywood stuntmen •Environment: - Darkened room. - As the dancers step on the pnumatic launcher, they trigger a sequence of lights above them that illuminate them in mid-flight. • Outfit - Opaque body suits, navy blue. - Retroreflective fabric is incorporated into the back of the costume to catch this light and emphasize the curve of the back while the dancers are airborne. • Metaphor - The sequence of moves, punctuated by the sound of the pnumatic launcher, evokes a sequence of flash bulbs that illuminate the dancer at the moment she is at the highest point of her flight.