Paula Levis Costume Designer

Biography

Paula Levis is a Melbourne based costume designer. She has worked extensively in Australia’s contemporary dance scene for twenty years, designing for Chunky Move Artistic Director Antony Hamilton on his works Token Armies, Forever and Ever, Meeting, Sentinal, Black Project 2 & 3, NYX, Keep Everything, Drift, RGB, Blazeblue Oneline and I Like This.

Paula has also designed costumes for Stephanie Lake Company (Manifesto, Skeleton Tree, Replica), Gideon Obarzanek (Two Faced Bastard, Mortal Engine, GLOW, Singularity, I Want to Dance Better at Parties), Lucy Guerin (Human Interest Story, Corridor, Structure & Sadness, Aether) and Melanie Lane. She has designed for dance companies Lyon Opera Ballet, Skånes Dansteater, Sydney Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre, KAGE, Danceworks, Dancehouse, TasDance and DanceNorth. Paula has also designed for Melbourne Theatre Company, Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre, Victorian Opera and La Mama and has worked as costume designer/ stylist for the Black Arm Band and musician Genevieve Lacey.

She was costume illustrator for the late Peter Corrigan over seventeen years.

Note

The title Forever & Ever provided the catalyst for the costume concept of this work. In search of the visual manifestation of ‘infinity’, I discovered motifs and ideas that in turn, helped to lay a choreographic framework for the piece to evolve within. Most notably, the idea of a Babushka doll that can be opened to repeatedly reveal smaller and smaller versions of a character - however in this incarnation, one character would ‘open’ to reveal a double of another character which would then double again and again until there are sixteen dancers dressed similarly on stage. Symbols of infinity and patterns that allude to the idea of perpetuity can be found throughout the costumes of Forever & Ever. Colours are simple and bold and stylistic choices aim to reflect the uncompromising and energetic nature of the musical score. We are left with notions of a culture that is both vital yet throwaway, being driven forever onwards with youthful exuberance.