\ jane rocca DIScoVerS WHaT HaPPenS WHen BaLLeT anD FaSHIon MeeT
designer \ Valentino garavani Costume for \ morgenblätter waltz (morning newspaper’s waltz) 2010 new Year’s Concert 2010. Choreographer \ renato Zanella, Vienna. state Ballet. 2010. austrian Broadcasting Corporation Collection, austria
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(national gallerY of ViCtoria, melBourne)
fashion
designer \ Collette dinnigan Costume for \ tutu 2003 tutu, parade Choreographer \ adrian Burnett. the australian Ballet, 2003 the australian Ballet Collection, melbourne
designer \ akira isogawa dress 2005 (detail) Costume for \ grand. Choreographed BY \ graeme murphy, sydney dance Company, 2005 arts Centre melbourne, performing arts
allet and fashion have always been closely linked, but it was the 1920s collaboration between Coco Chanel and Sergei Diaghilev, the artistic director of Ballets Russes, that showcased how the two can work together. Theirs was a world in which fashion and movement could live in harmony on a stage, adding a new dimension to each craft and, in turn, inspiring other collaborations. Coinciding with its 50th birthday, the Australian Ballet has teamed with the National Gallery of Victoria to showcase three decades of dance costumes that shifts from classical to avant-garde in the exhibition Ballet & Fashion, which runs until May 19. These wonderful partnerships have seen international and Australian designers bring their contemporary genius to the stage in ways they never have before – from Akira Isogawa to Christian Lacroix, ballet and fashion skirt on the daring and left-field, always pushing a bold and contemporary line. The silk crepe de chine, silk lace and nylon tutu of Collette Dinnigan’s 2003 collaboration with the Australian Ballet reminds us of the delicate durability required in ballet – she created dance costumes in black lace with nude undertones that appear feminine and demure but can endure the defiant moves of ballet dancers. NGV international fashion curator Roger Leong, who co-curated the exhibition with Yvonne Gates, director of special projects at the Australian Ballet, says the exhibition was all about choosing pieces that would work in a gallery space. “Ideally, we could have gone back to the 1920s and included the collaboration between Chanel and Sergei, but those costumes are fragile and expensive to borrow, so I felt it was important to give it a more contemporary feel,” says Leong. “I think the public associate fashion with the here and now, and anything else is perceived as historic costume. Historical breadth was important but we wanted … to give people a sense of variety and strength from the various decades. It was important to have a global and international perspective, too.”
Ideal Gifts to Congratulate New Mothers Natural coloured sapphire and diamond rings. Individually handcrafted in the Michael Wilson Workshop. Open 6 days a week (Sat 9-5pm). Full range of creative jewellery on display. Complimentary coffee, convenient parking. Exceptional prices.
Michael Wilson Gallery 725 Main Road, Eltham (Cnr Brougham St). For further details contact Aaron Wilson on 03 9439 3111 or aaron@michaelwilson.com.au 20 The weekly review \ december 12, 2012
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