Look Book 1

'Look Books' are a great way to come up with ideas for the aesthetics of a show, and for this show that is particularly important.  It will also help me communicate they nonverbal picture I have in my head with the rest of my design team.  I'm meeting with our costume designer next month for the first time, and am already working with a good friend who's consulting as a dance historian for the project.  In preparation for meetings, and also just because it's fun, I've been pulling vintage images from the web (I've just discovered the magic of Flikr) for inspiration.  I've also been pulling costume research pictures from modern movies with a similar theme to the show, to look at color, costume, and lighting.  Here are some selections!

Nicol Kidman as Satine in Moulin Roughe (image from the Vogue spread)

a burlesque promo image, early 20th c

cancan dancers

Zidler and the Cancan girls, from the Moulin Rouge Vogue spread

poster for Erma Ward, 1920s circus performer

19th c(?) act

the Hogndini siblings, circus performers

Reese Witherspoon as Marlena in the movie of Water for Elephants

Gypsy Caravan, date unknown

Sally Rand, 20th c burlesquer

from Traschand's book on the 19th c circus

Vaudeville performers, early 20th c

an elephant girl, date unknown

This will be an ongoing process, but I'm excited to be starting.  I'm also beginning the choreography for the opening number.  If possible, I'd like to have it ready by the first meeting with the cast.  Yay, progress!

Preliminary Research

I already have a few ideas for bits I'd like to use in the show, but to craft the general aesthetic I thought I would turn to some research into what late 19th century and early 20th century (let's just say pre-WWII) circuses were actually like.  My favorite source so far is a wonderful book by Brenda Assael, called The Circus and Victorian Society.  In a chapter primarily focused on female acrobats, Assael says: "Issues relating to danger, sexual pleasure, and athleticism--three qualities contemporaries associated with the female acrobat's art--became the focus of public discussions" (p 109 via google books).
I love this.  I think burlesque also deals with similar fascinations to the public conciousness: temptation, sexuality (in many forms), the explicit body as a means for empowerment...all things that, while not the same as Assael's assessment of  female acrobats, relate to the provoking image of a female acrobat in the 19th century.  In addition to the athletic and dangerous nature of these women's performances, their costumes also associated more closely to male circus costumes of the time than socially expected female fashions.

contemporary 'Strong Man' Sandow

costume of Miss Lala, a female strength performer from the V&A Collection

a painting of the performer mentioned above, 'Miss Lala at the Cirque Fernando' by Degas

Burlesque is a performance medium straddling the line between cultural fascination and condemnation.  To me, this seems to fit perfectly with the aesthetics of the Edwardian-ish era circus.  Not to mention the adorable costume potential!

The Big Top is Born

Three years ago, I had an idea for a show that would transport the audience back to the days of Vaudeville but with no limits on the music or costuming available to performers.  This year will be my final year with The Scandal Review, Sarah Lawrence College's burlesque troupe, and that idea is finally on its way to becoming a reality.
We have quite a few hurdles to get through first...but things are moving, and I am so excited to be working with such an amazing team of creative and wonderful people to make this happen.  This blog is meant to be the story of our show.  Hopefully it will serve as a resource for future SLC burlesquers hoping to create their own work, and as a place for everyone involved to share their input into the creative process.  Let us begin.

xxx
Lilli