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| Rehearsing for Hussein Chalayan's new dance theatre show Gravity Fatigue. Photo: Manuel Vason |
CULTURE / DANCE
Tickets for all
four shows of Hussein Chalayan’s new dance theatre production Gravity
Fatigue have sold out.
The show premieres at Sadler’s Wells – the world’s leading dance space – next
Wednesday.
Chalayan, 45,
returns to the venue that hosted his iconic Afterwords collection back in 2000,
when a sitting room was transferred into fashion pieces: armchair covers became
stunning dresses the models picked up and put on. A model stepped into the
centre of a round coffee table that she hitched around her waist, cascading into
a telescopic wooden skirt as she did so. Chairs were folded into suitcases and
carried off by the models.
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| Chalayan's coffee-table skirt |
Sadler’s Wells’
artistic director Alistair Spalding watched the “amazing” Afterwords show and
instantly fell in love with the Chalayan’s theatrical style. After years of trying
to create a dance project with him, he has finally succeeded.
Gravity Fatigue set to be ground-breaking
Two years in the making, Gravity Fatigue marks an important experiment for both Sadler’s Wells and the internationally renowned artist-cum-fashion designer. Normally dance productions are led by the choreographer with others invited to collaborate. Chalayan did not want to play second fiddle, so Spalding found a formula to allow the designer’s ideas and costume creations to shape the show’s concept, which is being performed by 13 dancers and is choreographed by award-winning Belgian Damien Jalet (
Lacking a dance
background, Chalayan auditioned for the dancers in 2014 and has been working
with them ever since. Unlike models, he has to cater for a wider range of body
shapes: the costumes have to fit, look good on and also enable movement.
Supported by
Spalding and Jalet, and music by Parisian outfit Mode-F, the fluid
collaborative process has allowed Chalayan’s visual artistry to come alive
through the medium of contemporary dance, which he describes as: “Design,
movement – it’s almost like art in action.”
Like his
fashion collections, this theatrical show will also be elegantly stripped bare:
'I don’t want this to be too dancey – too choreographed or busy,” he told the Telegraph.
The show takes
its cue from displacement, identity and invisibility – themes which have figured
prominently throughout Chalayan’s career. Originally from Lefkoşa to Turkish
Cypriot parents, he has first-hand experience of life in divided Cyprus
How this plays
out on the stage remains to be seen, but as with his past creative endeavours,
it is sure to be nothing less than ground-breaking.
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| Hussein Chalayan at full stretch with his dancers. Photo: Wallpaper, September 2015 |
About Hussein Chalayan MBE
Refusing to be
pigeon-holed and regarded by his peers and media alike as a creative genius, Hussein
Chalayan’s innovative work blurs the boundaries between fashion, art and
design.
Born in Lefkoşa
in 1970, he attended one the TRNC’s top state schools, Türk Maarif Koleji,
before moving to London where he studied Fashion at Central Saint Martins
College of Art and Design.
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| Bjork in Chalayan's Airnail jacket on her album cover |
For his debut
collection, The Tangent Flows in 1993, he buried iron fillings with his
garments in a friend’s garden for three months so they could oxidise and decay,
before being dug up and presented at his graduation show that was themed around
burial and resurrection. The entire collection was bought by luxury boutique
Browns and displayed in their central London
While totally
unconventional, his aim is not to shock or rebel, but to explore and present
new ideas. Each piece of work has its own narrative and his experimental,
cerebral style often involves manipulating new technology and materials that
are usually overlooked in the world of fashion.
One of his most
renowned creations is the Airmail dress. Inspired by durable envelope paper,
this one-size-fits-all garment was both washable and wearable. You could
personalise it, and then fold it up and post like an airmail envelope. Chalayan
produced a whole series of similar garments made of Tyvex-coated paper,
including a jacket that avant-garde pop star Bjork wore on the cover of her
1995 album Post.
A partnership
with Swarovski that started in 2006 resulted in conceptual art installations
for their Swarovski
Crystal Palace
Another pop
star to seek out Chalayan’s talent was Lady Gaga. She turned up at the Grammy
Awards in 2011 in a futuristic womb that he had designed for her. The singer
was carried down the red carpet in her translucent ‘Egg’ where she incubated
until it was time for her to perform Born This Way.
A long-time
admirer of the Turkish Cypriot designer, Gaga was inspired by the womb-like
futuristic pod that featured in his short film Place to
Passage. The pod,
travelling at speed across different landscapes, reflected Chalayan’s interests
in technology, displacement and finding comfort in the nurturing environment of
a womb.
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| Lady Gaga arrives at the Grammys in an 'egg' designed by Hussein Chalayan |
In 1999 and
again in 2000, he was crowned British Designer of the Year, and in 2006, the
Queen awarded him an MBE. He has received numerous other awards and his work
exhibited in several major solo shows, including Fashion
Narratives at Les Arts
Decoratifs in Paris in 2011, 1994-2010 at the Istanbul Modern, and From Fashion
and Back which was
exhibited in both London and Tokyo
Production: Gravity Fatigue
Show dates: Wednesday 28 to
Saturday 31 October
2015
Venue: Sadler's Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue , London
EC1R 4TN
Show starts: 7.30pm
Tickets: £12-£38
(returns only, or seats with restricted view)
More info: the box office on 020 7863 8000 or visit www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/
Hussein Chalayan: www.chalayan.com
Hussein Chalayan: www.chalayan.com
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