Time to create my Previs....accompanied by the soundtrack from Bedrich Smetana's "From My Life" ( a composer who became deaf....and continued to write and compose) ...
I discovered this album whilst on my Theatre Design degree at Wimbledon....as we were given the brief to design a contemporary ballet using the music 'From My Life'; depicting Smetana's relationship with his wife.
To portray the onset of his deafness and his internal journey and acceptance around this, I designed a series of Art Nouveau costumes inspired by John William Waterhouse's 'The Lady of Shalott' (incredible creation of 'daylight' with oil paint) and a set which was jet black, apart from illuminated gauzes, each showing an Art Nouveau rose in a varying state of decay....
Each gauze was sequentially lit, using foreground dimmers and backlights...thus making the gauzes magically dissolve, revealing another stage of decay.....real time animation!
Interesting that Thaw also has similar themes, including symbolic flowers...and that I have selected this piece of music to work to today...
