Appearance

Set and costumes for the performance ‘Appearance’. Context. Diana Vishneva Festival of Contemporary Dance, 2022

The play «Appearance» speaks about a movement to the essence of human nature, exploring intuitive knowledge, collective and individual nature. Together with the dancers, the viewer will embark on a journey, separating from the body and returning to it. The creators of the performance set out to create the effect of visual hypnosis, as well as a sudden sense of appearances, piercing the viewer. The work touches gender issues, the essence of male and female energy. During the performance the image and representation of the body is transformed from clearly defined feminine and masculine to a genderless essence.

Sketches (costumes):

In the images of the dancers, the artist refers to natural materials and natural phenomena, emphasizing their nudity, gender, fragility and at the same time natural wildness. The costumes are decorated with earth, and natural coal is used in the makeup. An
important character here is the dress. The dress is such a transforming matter that multiplies new entities and creates turning points in the performance.

Testing:

The scenography is a large-scale installation, which transforms
during the performance. As well as in the costumes, the artist uses living materials in the scenography — the stage podium is covered with smoking embers, and the stage breathes with the fog of a smoke frame, like the illusion of a blazing fire, reminding the viewer of the primordial nature of the universe.


Tatyana Ludanik’s interview for ‘ELLE’ magazine about creating costumes for ‘Appearance’

RU (original) version

Stage / Costume Designer: Tatiana Ludanik
Choreographer: Anna Shchekleina
Project Dancers: Marina Herolyants, Anastasia Radkova, Andrey Petrushenkov, Daniil Kirilko, Lidia Krivosheeva, Damir Bulatov
Sound Designer: Andrey Petrushenkov
Lighting Designers: Tatyana Mishina, Alexandra-Victoria Chayan

Duration: 50 minutes