CriticalDance Forum

<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>THE YELLOW DRESS <BR>Costume designer finds essence of 'Costume' character</B><P>Cynthia Robins, SF Chronicle<P>When "Contact" creator Susan Stroman called costumer William Ivey Long with his marching orders for her dance-based show, all she told him was: "I saw this girl in a dance club come out of the dark. She was wearing yellow. All eyes were on her. Everyone else was in club-kid black. I need a yellow dress." <P>"Righty-o," was Long's reply.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/05/22/DD169782.DTL" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

A very interesting article. When I studied drama we did a lot on the semiotics of colour in theatre and it is a very interesting topic.<P>I think use of colours these days is often striking because of the black clad times we live in as Stroman states about the imoact of the yellow dress in the night club.<P>I'm sure all the backstage contributors would be gald to hear that some of the choreography was changed to suit the dress!

I think that color has great signifcance - both for characters on stage - and for me personally. I thought this quote from the article was interesting, since I believe that it is traditional for Giselle to wear some blue, if only a blue apron.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>For the middle segment called "Did You Move," in which a rough-cut gangster type takes his beaten-down wife out to an excruciating dinner, Long dressed his woman in "victim blue." The color has become a costumer's cliche in classical theater. "Desdemona is always in blue; so is Ophelia," he says. "I chose the color to represent the ultimate victim."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Color also depends on culture. In China red is a celebratory color, while white is a color for grief. <P>As for me personally, I never wear any particular item of clothing, cut or color, by accident. I "feel" what color I need to wear on any particular day. To wear red on a day when I need to wear green, is almost impossible. And it has nothing to do with any particular mood. I am not sure what determines it. <P>I felt very much that way about costumes, too. Having to wear the wrong cut or color could really upset a performance for me.<p>[This message has been edited by Basheva (edited May 23, 2001).]

I've said this before on other topics; the first thing an audience notices (consciously or not) is color. In the lights, in the set, in the costumes. It is one of the most powerful tools we can use as designers.

And not only the audience - but also the performers. As the article and Basheva illustrate, you can significantly use to your advantage the effect the color, or light, or dress, or whatever, has on the artist and their portrayal of what ever character or emotion they are supposed to be doing.<BR>

Uh, oh. I like blue. I'm afraid of what that says about me...<P>"Did You Move" the middle segment of Contact was actually my favorite, probably related to my liking blue... But there's no doubt about it, that yellow dress (especially with Yates in it) transcended costuming. There are some things that are so "right on" that they become indelible symbols. Yates in that dress is an indelible symbol.