Breathe Week

In the Final Count Down
Battle for the Winds is in less then 2 weeks, and as such Breathe - the disabled and abled dance companys who are in the performance - is in its final stages!

Monday
Monday began with fittings at 8:30 - 12 for the Brazillians who have come over to be in the performance! They are the Navigator tribe of the Breathers. There was a lot to get through in a short space of time, and it could be a little difficult to communicate due to the language barrier but we found that thumbs up, thumbs down and a big smile can go a long way in getting things done - and 'OKAY' is universal. After the Brazillian fittings in the morning we had the fittings for the Hunters, Jesters and Collectors during the rehearsals. Again the fittings went very well, and on the majority of the costumes there were very few alterations to be made. The main difficulty was getting the performers who were a little less willing to want to wear their costumes, and for the majority after being told how amazing they would look in their costumes and being encouraged to try them on and see themselves wearing them, and the other performers wearing costumes similar, they became more attached to the costumes and were willing to wear them - to the point where a few were hesitant to take them off!

Tuesday
Tuesday was for the last of the fittings, and the Builders, Rebels and Elders - and I got to see the rest of the props I had made in action! The miniature spades and rakes that I had made from plastazote and broken down have been attached to the belts of some of the builders. I must say I was very proud. The fittings went well again, and one of my responsibilities was to take photographs of the costumes after the fittings. This is mainly for the dressers for a visible record of how the costume is to be worn for the performance.

Wednesday (today)
Today we began on the alterations, and myself and Jess Knight began to dye three spare base costumes. We have completed the first of a four stage dying process used for all the base costumes - though for these the fifth stage used on the rest of the base costumes which consists of adding paint spatters and puff binder to the surface for texture and breaking down will not be used. The first stage was to spatter the costumes with four specific colours of hot water dylon dyes.
- Tangerine
- Golden Glow
- Madonna Blue
- Green

As the lightest we started with golden glow, mixing the dye as per the instructions we were given - 1/2 teaspoons per saucepan with salt - and spattered on the dye alternating using a spoon and a wide paintbrush for a variety of marks. We then moved on to Tangerine as the next darkest, then Madonna Blue and Green.

These were the results. This is the first of the four stages, which we - myself and felow helper Jess -  hope to complete tomorrow. It is good to be back in the dye room I have missed it, and I find using different dyes and techniques incredibly beneficial and rewarding as I watch the costumes take shape.