Dance Costume - Design

Design

The most successful costumes portray or relate to some characteristic or mood of the dance (Joiner 3). When designing dance costumes it is required to analyze the costume’s function in relation to the purpose. The main people involved with the designing of the costume are the choreographer, designer, costume maker (seamstress), and dancer. The costume should be designed according to the movements of the dancer, the budget, and to the comfort of dancer. A costume should not be just worn, the dancer needs to take advantage of its restrictions and use them to enhance the visual designs or ideas. Dance costume makes it possible to extend the potentials of the body design in space and to add new elements of stage interest (Cooper 49).

Dance costume needs to be designed with the understanding that the dancer has to move in the costume. A dance costume’s purpose is to support the concept of the dance. It should not dominate or overwhelm movement or the dancers in color, pattern, or mass. It shouldn’t look like the costume is “wearing the dancer” (Cooper 50). The costume should be designed to the theme of the dance. A dance costume needs to flatter the dancers, but can either harmonize or provide contrast to the dance (Cooper 48). The sets and costumes need to work together and work with the movements. They should allow movements to happen comfortably; so that the dancer does not have to worry about ripping their costume or losing a shoe. If a dancer is being lifted in the dance number then the costume shouldn't have bulky fabric around the dancer’s waist or accessories that the lifter can get their fingers caught on. Dance costume should fit like second skin so that the costume moves with the body of the dancer. The costume needs to be quick and easy to fasten, this can be made possible through Velcro or hooks allow (Cooper 65). The following will discuss costumes’ design according to color, texture and pattern, material, lining, women and men, accessories, hair, and make-up.