An analysis of the creative and collaborative processes integral to the design of a set of costumes for the original ballet "Allen's Landing"

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the creative and collaborative processes integral to the design of a set of costumes for the original ballet, “Allen’s Landing.� The ballet was thematically based on the settlement and early growth of the city of Houston, Texas, circa 1836-1867. The designs had to be appropriate for dance and authenticated by the literature. Methods: The designer notated details of the meetings held among the subjective processes integral to the inspiration of each design and transcribed the production notes shared with the collaborating artists and the costumers who built the final costumes. These notes were appropriately edited and combined with copes of the original designs and photographs of the completed ballet in performance. Summary and Evaluation; The analysis disclosed four simultaneously interlocking phases of work which resulted in the completed renderings. The designer (1) gathered external information about the ballet by attending collaborative meetings with the participating artists and by completing the review of literature; (2) immersed herself in the atmosphere of music, the set colors and the choreography; (3) looked inward to for, a subjective, sensual, emotional, and psychological gestalt; (4) focused on the previous elements on each design. Through the mediums of painting, paper and fabric designs were realized. It became evident that design for dance was an organic process. Each scene and each costume in the ballet presented an individual creative problem. There was no quantitative or linear method available to analyze the design process. The form of the collaborative process was found to be open ended and simple. (1) Artists should be selected who agree to agree. (2) Each must trust in each other’s integrity. (3) Each must respect their and each other’s Craft and technical abilities. (4) An environment should be created where the artists can share what is meaningful to them. (5) The artists meanings should be focused onto kne subject. Thus a new design can be born.