Art through Cirque du Soleil
If you have ever been to a circus, you probably have noticed the colorful costumes that the performers wear. But, have you ever thought of the costumes as a piece of art? In this assignment, we had to learn a brief part about Cirque du Soleil and I went to their website and the first thing I noticed was what the performers were wearing. These costumes are canvas paintings put on fabric wrapped around a body. They are astonishing and the creativity is beyond me. I wanted to showcase two designers, Dominique Lemieux and François Barbeau. They both have created numerous costumes for various sets of Cirque du Soleil.
The first artist, Dominique Lemieux, received an education in fine arts and design at Concordia University, Montreal. After she graduated, she studied scenography at the national Theatre School of Canada, with François Barbeau. She was actually his assistant from 1986- 1988. After her experience with François Barbeau, she was picked up by Cirque du Soleil productions and created all their costumes from 1989 to 1998. That’s a lot of costumes! The Crique du Soleil quotes, “With an expert eye, Dominique weaves colors, patterns and fabrics into fabulous costumes. But her choice of material is not strictly guided by aesthetic considerations alone. For Dominique, determining how fibres react to skin, movement, fire or water is of vital importance, and she never loses sight of the artists’ needs.”
These two costumes were created for the show La Nouba which plays at Walt Disney World in Florida. Dominique Lemieux created 30 different costumes for this production. She mixed traditional circus ideas with contemporary fashion. She had 8 weeks to create the costumes from October 24th to December 23rd, 1998. It does not state where the costumes were made at.
This costume is The Clown. I like The Clown because of the purple and yellow contrast. I usually wouldn’t think these two colors go together but I guess in a circus they do, and combined they make a lively, entertaining sight to see. I also like the hat with the stuff coming off on top of it.
My favorite out of the two is The Pierrot Rouge because of the lines coming off of it. I think this is a good demonstration of contemporary fashion because you are starting to see a lot more abstract lines on clothes. Creating this piece must have been difficult because she had so much fabric to work with.
The next two costumes, also created by Dominique Lemieux were made for the show Alegria. This show started in 1994 therefore the costumes were created in either 1993 or early 1994. It is a traveling circus so I am not sure where the costumes were made. Alegria is a Cirque du Soleil performance about the struggle for power and the refreshing energy of youth. Cirque du Soleil quotes, “Dominique Lemieux’s costumes evince a baroque aesthetic of decadence and ornamentation.”
This costume is titled Nostalgic Old Birds. I really like these costumes because of the detail that Lemieux put into it. The hats are what caught my eye at first. Look at how many things are coming off the first ‘bird’! And the leggings are unique because of they way they are layered. I wonder how much these costumes weighed. And imagine dancing in them and performing acrobatic acts!
These costumes are titled The Nymphs. The part I like about these is the beauty the represent. If you saw these costumes on a rack you would think ‘what in the world is this?!’ But once they are put on they are graceful and gorgeous. The detail I like the most is actually the pieces on the breast. It reminds me of a Madonna costume but a lot more classy. Once again, Lemieux goes above and beyond on the head pieces.
The second artist that will be featured in my exhibit is François Barbeau. François Barbeau was born in Montreal and is one of the most respected costume designers in Canada. In 1998, he joined the team of designers behind the Cirque du Soleil show Dralion, and this creation earned him an Emmy in 2001, awarded by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for “Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program.” He worked with Cirque du Soleil till 2004. He was a very important trainer for the new generation of costume designers from 1962-1987. His trainees include Dominique Lemieux, Michel Crête and Stéphane Roy, all designers at Cirque du Soleil.
These next two costumes are from Cirque du Soleil’s production Wintuk. It plays seasonally at the Madison Square Garden. The show started in 2007 (the costumes were made then as well) and will run till 2011. It is about a boy that lives in the city who experiences winter, but without snow. He then goes to look for snow and encounters many characters along his way. Cirque du Soleil states, “François Barbeau used highly unusual reflective materials in his costumes to capture the essence of the characters that evolve in the icy and frosty realm of Wintuk. Under his watchful eye, Cirque du Soleil’s costume department turned into a full-fledged research lab for many months. ‘I wanted to move out of familiar waters with Wintuk, particularly in the area of materials and textiles,’ he notes.”
This costume is titled Hoop Girl, which seems pretty fitting. I like this costume because of the colors it has. The play is set in a winter setting and I think these colors blend right in. The mystic blue and white shined upon it gives it a winter wonderland effect. I also like the hoops coming out of it that the lady is holding up.
These two characters are titled The Puppets. They aren’t necessarly my favorite costumes but I added them because they are so different from the rest. They don’t have elaborate things coming off of them besides some white fluff and the colors are pretty neutral. The shoes also interest me because they look like something you would see will camping or hiking, not in a Cirque du Soleil play. Therefore, I added this picture because of the differences of the past pictures.
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/~/media/press/PDF/cds/The_Costume_Workshop.pdf
http://www.dominiquelemieux.com/e/creations_spectacles_saltimbanco.html
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/wintuk/show/acts.aspx
Beautiful job. I can honestly say that clowns creep me out. However, the costumes for these performers are defiantly works of art. The Cirque du Soleil’s performers deserve the very best, they are amazing performers. I have never seen them in person but have watched them on TV. You covered all the factual information thoroughly and picked some wonderful examples of costumes in use. Of course I prefer the “Nymphs” to the “Old Birds” but my favorite is “The Puppets” Are you by any chance a clothes designer? Since you picked clothing and it’s creativity I was just wondering. Exceptional blog.
Your blog is by far one of the best one I have seen yet this semester. You seem to really enjoy what you have written about, that always leads to better pieces of work. Your background on the artists and their particular costume contribution to Cirque du Soleil was great. I never thought of the costumes being artwork but it clearly is a very importune form of artwork because there is even an Oscar category for it. Your blog has given me an idea for mine and I was stuck trying to come up with an idea. Thanks for the time and effort you put into your work it has inspired me.
Wow what a neat exhibit! Cirque de Soleil is really an awesome show. Their costumes are one of a kind as well as their acts. I liked how you talked about each costume and what you liked about them. Keep up the good work!!!