Simple Dress or Gew-Gaws and Tinsel?
"Every actor on the stage must be free and unfettered in his movements: he must not be hindered by the manner of costume necessitated by the character he has to represent... he must escape from a fashion which impoverishes his art and hinders all expression."
- J G Noverre. Letters on Dancing and Ballets, 741
The physiological relationship between dance and costume, highlighted by maître-de-ballet Jean-Georges Noverre, seems to have been well understood as early as 1735 by the English dancing-master Kellom Tomlinson: what distinguishes his attempt to record eighteenth-century dance is the three-dimensional nature of his 'notation'. The lavish, engraved plates which appeared in his dance manual, The Art of Dancing, included all the elements required to convey not only the action of the dancers but also the style of their movement; elegantly dressed, their bodies are captured in motion complete with the notation of their footwork and their accompanying music. Tomlinson's plates therefore depicted as complete a rendering of the eighteenth-century clothed dancing form as is possible in two dimensions. Whilst the symbiotic relationship between dance and dress is consistently accepted today it is, however, rarely explored within the context of baroque dance presentation in current-day performance. What, for example, is the relevance of reproducing original costumes for use on the modern stage? How important is period accuracy? If the physical restrictions of period dress exert a direct influence upon the movements possible for the human body, how does this impact the twenty-first century dancer's approach to performance? This paper will address the ways in which the two elements, dance and costume, are inextricably linked with reference to original sources and more than 35 years of collaboration in recreating costumes for baroque dance in modern productions.
Joanna Jarvis is a senior lecturer in Design for Performance at Birmingham City University, and is a practicing designer and maker of period costume for Renaissance and Baroque dance. She has a long working relationship with the researcher and choreographer Mary Collins. Joanna's current research centres on the psychology of fashion and the social status of actresses through an examination of images of eighteenth-century performers on the London stage. Her doctoral thesis examined the relationship between costume for dance on the stage, the women int he audience, and fashionable dress, in the late eighteenth century.
Mary Collins (Hon ARAM) is an Early Dance specialist whose research and teaching approach has inspired musicians to look afresh at the dance music that is at the heart of the baroque repertoire, bringing, in turn, a fresh perspective on the great composers of the baroque era. Pushing the boundaries of knowledge, Mary's radical impact upon historical performance-practice through performance and research is widely acknowledged. By bringing both dance and music to life, Mary aims to reintegrate the two disciplines in a manner both entertaining and relevant to modern audiences. A practitioner and researcher, her work in dance, music and theatre is widely respected; she tours regularly, giving concerts, lecture-recitals, master-classes and workshops. Mary teachers at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London, touring and teaching internationally. Mary has enjoyed a long association with designer and costume-maker Dr Joanna Jarvis (Birmingham City University). She is also currently collaborating with Professors Adrian Butterfield and Rachel Brown (Royal College of Music) to produce a multi-disciplinary practical resource for musicians on Baroque Dance and how to realise its music.