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SCARLET INFUSION RUI XU'S COSTUME DESIGNS x THE TEA SPELL DANCE THEATRE BY ZHAO LIANG A Fairy Tale, A Tale of Tea - Infusion, In Fashion, In Harmony |
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[PRESS RELEASE]
“If well-tailored clothing makes the man”, then an elegantly crafted costume makes the on-stage actor. Fashion has often engaged with the theatre and many of the greatest couturiers have loaned their design expertise to the stage: Coco Chanel, Yves St Laurent, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garçons and Hussein Chalayan to name a few.
V&A-collected Chinese fashion designer Rui Xu, has created “Scarlet Infusion” - seven seductive and spellbinding costumes, one for each of the characters in The Tea Spell, the Rashomon style dance theatre directed by Zhao Liang (UK premiere on 13th August 2017 at Edinburgh International Conference Centre). Centred around the stunningly beautiful, scarlet clad, female lead and using the traditional Chinese tea ceremony as her stage, this fable reveals the heroine's enigmatic encounters with her fellow tea-drinkers - a woodcutter, a noble man and a monk. Each figure dressed in the designer’s elaborately embroidered, austerely shaped and uniquely expressive creations.
The collaboration between internationally renowned choreographer Zhao Liang and Rui Xu started in 2012 when the show was premiered during The Chinese Culture Festival in Germany. The main theme of the dance theatre is about Zen and Tea – which was strongly influenced by Chinese Taoist philosophy, a subject that Rui Xu has returned to many times in her fashion designs, including her signature design series XIANG WANG YI exhibited at Royal College of Art and Zaha Hadid Design Gallery.
The costume design process involves a great deal of insistence and compromise between the two artists. “Although I and Zhao Liang have gone through countless arguments and alterations in the creative process, the final major piece of this Scarlet Infusion Series worn by the Tea,” says Rui Xu, “turns out to be very satisfactory and impressive for both of us”.
Rui Xu chose the hue of the Tea Fairy's head-to-toe robe to represent the secular glamour and overwhelming seduction incarnate in the character. In her sumptuous scarlet cloak made entirely from natural materials, the designer plays with well-known motifs from traditional Chinese culture – for example the nine red-crested cranes, suggests Taoist immortality and nobility.
Rui Xu elaborates: “Each of these elegant and fine birds, illustrated throughout the costume in various poses, wings flared, in flight, elongated necks, beaks fishing, legs crooked have been hand-stitched by two tailors and three embroidery specialists, hundreds of hours of meticulous work, depicting the low-relief embroidered cranes cascading down the long flowing train of the cloak with a sculptural effect.”
Although the rest of the characters in the dance – such as the woodcutter, noble man and monk, are narrative rather than imaginative, Rui Xu’s costumes eschew realism, giving them a timeless identity by using monochrome and dimensional silhouettes.
This is not the only time that Rui Xu has combined her fashion design with dance. In 2015, she partnered with Madaleine Trigg, performance artist from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, presenting “Chant of Breath”, a performance art project at Saatchi Gallery, London, where dancers wearing Rui Xu’s conceptual costumes, moving as if they were the brush and ink to script Chinese calligraphic characters in rhythmic yet breathless movement.
But Rui Xu’s “Scarlet Infusion Series” carries the most emotional overtone amongst her fashion designs. A Fairy Tale, A Tale of Tea - Infusion, In Fashion, In Harmony.
The UK Premiere of the dance theatre – The Tea Spell is on 13th August 2017, at Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EH3 8EE, Scotland). “Synergy - When Dance Meets Fashion”, a panel discussion with Rui Xu, Zhao Liang as well as Professor Christopher Bannerman, performance artist Madaleine Trigg and the actress from The Tea Spell Amy Grubb is held on Thursday, 17th August 2017 at China Exchange London (32a Gerrard St London W1D 6JA), to explore the boundaries and possibilities when the worlds of fashion and dance meet on the stage. Lang Xiao, Art Consultant and Director of ARTouch Consulting will moderate the panel. The panel discussion is open to all. To register: chinaexchange.uk
– ENDS –
Notes to Editors
For all PRESS enquiries please contact Lang Xiao:
lang.xiao@artouchconsulting.com | +44 (0)7591 877 185
About Rui Xu
Rui Xu is a Chinese fashion designer and contemporary artist whose works bridge fashion, painting, music and performance. She was the director of Fashion Department at China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). She later furthered her research at the Royal College of Art in London. Her solo exhibition BEAUTY ON FIRE – FOR ZAHA at the Zaha Hadid Gallery (in memory of her friend and muse – the late, great Dame Zaha Hadid), FROM XUAN TO BLINDNESS at the Royal College of Art and fashion experiment performance CHANT OF BREATH at the Saatchi Gallery both received warm response in the UK. With the increasing recognition by the UK fashion industry, Rui Xu’s work XIANGGUI was permanently collected by the world’s leading museum in art and design – V&A Museum in 2017.
Xu’s professional experiences include: Chief Costume Designer for 60th Miss World Final in 2010; Costume Designer for the Dance Theatre – The Tea Spell in 2012 & 2017; Bespoke Designer for The Elephant Family Animal Ball 2016. Rui Xu’s designs are widely collected by leading institutions and individuals, including China Silk Museum, V&A Museum, Clarence House, and Dame Zaha Hadid, etc.
“If well-tailored clothing makes the man”, then an elegantly crafted costume makes the on-stage actor. Fashion has often engaged with the theatre and many of the greatest couturiers have loaned their design expertise to the stage: Coco Chanel, Yves St Laurent, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garçons and Hussein Chalayan to name a few.
V&A-collected Chinese fashion designer Rui Xu, has created “Scarlet Infusion” - seven seductive and spellbinding costumes, one for each of the characters in The Tea Spell, the Rashomon style dance theatre directed by Zhao Liang (UK premiere on 13th August 2017 at Edinburgh International Conference Centre). Centred around the stunningly beautiful, scarlet clad, female lead and using the traditional Chinese tea ceremony as her stage, this fable reveals the heroine's enigmatic encounters with her fellow tea-drinkers - a woodcutter, a noble man and a monk. Each figure dressed in the designer’s elaborately embroidered, austerely shaped and uniquely expressive creations.
The collaboration between internationally renowned choreographer Zhao Liang and Rui Xu started in 2012 when the show was premiered during The Chinese Culture Festival in Germany. The main theme of the dance theatre is about Zen and Tea – which was strongly influenced by Chinese Taoist philosophy, a subject that Rui Xu has returned to many times in her fashion designs, including her signature design series XIANG WANG YI exhibited at Royal College of Art and Zaha Hadid Design Gallery.
The costume design process involves a great deal of insistence and compromise between the two artists. “Although I and Zhao Liang have gone through countless arguments and alterations in the creative process, the final major piece of this Scarlet Infusion Series worn by the Tea,” says Rui Xu, “turns out to be very satisfactory and impressive for both of us”.
Rui Xu chose the hue of the Tea Fairy's head-to-toe robe to represent the secular glamour and overwhelming seduction incarnate in the character. In her sumptuous scarlet cloak made entirely from natural materials, the designer plays with well-known motifs from traditional Chinese culture – for example the nine red-crested cranes, suggests Taoist immortality and nobility.
Rui Xu elaborates: “Each of these elegant and fine birds, illustrated throughout the costume in various poses, wings flared, in flight, elongated necks, beaks fishing, legs crooked have been hand-stitched by two tailors and three embroidery specialists, hundreds of hours of meticulous work, depicting the low-relief embroidered cranes cascading down the long flowing train of the cloak with a sculptural effect.”
Although the rest of the characters in the dance – such as the woodcutter, noble man and monk, are narrative rather than imaginative, Rui Xu’s costumes eschew realism, giving them a timeless identity by using monochrome and dimensional silhouettes.
This is not the only time that Rui Xu has combined her fashion design with dance. In 2015, she partnered with Madaleine Trigg, performance artist from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, presenting “Chant of Breath”, a performance art project at Saatchi Gallery, London, where dancers wearing Rui Xu’s conceptual costumes, moving as if they were the brush and ink to script Chinese calligraphic characters in rhythmic yet breathless movement.
But Rui Xu’s “Scarlet Infusion Series” carries the most emotional overtone amongst her fashion designs. A Fairy Tale, A Tale of Tea - Infusion, In Fashion, In Harmony.
The UK Premiere of the dance theatre – The Tea Spell is on 13th August 2017, at Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EH3 8EE, Scotland). “Synergy - When Dance Meets Fashion”, a panel discussion with Rui Xu, Zhao Liang as well as Professor Christopher Bannerman, performance artist Madaleine Trigg and the actress from The Tea Spell Amy Grubb is held on Thursday, 17th August 2017 at China Exchange London (32a Gerrard St London W1D 6JA), to explore the boundaries and possibilities when the worlds of fashion and dance meet on the stage. Lang Xiao, Art Consultant and Director of ARTouch Consulting will moderate the panel. The panel discussion is open to all. To register: chinaexchange.uk
– ENDS –
Notes to Editors
For all PRESS enquiries please contact Lang Xiao:
lang.xiao@artouchconsulting.com | +44 (0)7591 877 185
About Rui Xu
Rui Xu is a Chinese fashion designer and contemporary artist whose works bridge fashion, painting, music and performance. She was the director of Fashion Department at China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). She later furthered her research at the Royal College of Art in London. Her solo exhibition BEAUTY ON FIRE – FOR ZAHA at the Zaha Hadid Gallery (in memory of her friend and muse – the late, great Dame Zaha Hadid), FROM XUAN TO BLINDNESS at the Royal College of Art and fashion experiment performance CHANT OF BREATH at the Saatchi Gallery both received warm response in the UK. With the increasing recognition by the UK fashion industry, Rui Xu’s work XIANGGUI was permanently collected by the world’s leading museum in art and design – V&A Museum in 2017.
Xu’s professional experiences include: Chief Costume Designer for 60th Miss World Final in 2010; Costume Designer for the Dance Theatre – The Tea Spell in 2012 & 2017; Bespoke Designer for The Elephant Family Animal Ball 2016. Rui Xu’s designs are widely collected by leading institutions and individuals, including China Silk Museum, V&A Museum, Clarence House, and Dame Zaha Hadid, etc.
Panel Discussion Synergy: When Dance Meets Fashion
Time: 18.30 - 20.30 Thursday 17th August 2017
Add: China Exchange 32a Gerrard St London W1D 6JA (Leicester Square)
Open to Public | RSVP Essential
Register
Time: 18.30 - 20.30 Thursday 17th August 2017
Add: China Exchange 32a Gerrard St London W1D 6JA (Leicester Square)
Open to Public | RSVP Essential
Register
About Rui Xu
Rui Xu is a Chinese fashion designer and contemporary artist whose works bridge fashion, painting, music and performance. She was the director of Fashion Department at China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). She later furthered her research at the Royal College of Art in London. Her solo exhibition BEAUTY ON FIRE – FOR ZAHA at the Zaha Hadid Gallery (in memory of her friend and muse – the late, great Dame Zaha Hadid), FROM XUAN TO BLINDNESS at the Royal College of Art and fashion experiment performance CHANT OF BREATH at the Saatchi Gallery both received warm response in the UK. With the increasing recognition by the UK fashion industry, Rui Xu’s work XIANGGUI was permanently collected by the world’s leading museum in art and design – V&A Museum in 2017.
Xu’s professional experiences include: Chief Costume Designer for 60th Miss World Final in 2010; Costume Designer for the Dance Theatre – The Tea Spell in 2012 & 2017; Bespoke Designer for The Elephant Family Animal Ball 2016. Rui Xu’s designs are widely collected by leading institutions and individuals, including China Silk Museum, V&A Museum, Clarence House, and Dame Zaha Hadid, etc.Body, as the common ground for fashion design and theatre creation, intricately bound up the two worlds on the stage. Join the panel discussion - Synergy: When Dance Meets Fashion, with fashion designer Rui Xu, choreographer & theatre director Zhao Liang, as well as Professor Christopher Bannerman, performance artist Madaleine Trigg and the actress from The Tea Spell Amy Grubb, to explore the boundary and possibility of fashion and dance. With Zhao Liang's dance theatre - The Tea Spell recently shown in Edinburgh, the panel will also share the story behind the creation.
About Zhao Liang (Texts provided by Zhao Liang)
Zhao Liang, a spiritual dancer and choreography wizard, has a unique flare of Eastern mystery. He was the first Chinese winner of “Roman Award” for modern dance at the international dance competition. Also presented to him were National Cultural Award as well as Lotus Cup, the highest award in the Chinese dance community, for Best Performance and Best Choreography. On his tour to Germany, Zhao Liang was referred by the local media as “Shepard” from the East. The words “dancer” and “dance” alone are not sufficient to define Zhao Liang and his works. Besides the unique somatic language of dance, his creativity and use of space, behavioral art and music make Zhao Liang a truly well rounded artist. In 2012, the artist founded Zhao Liang Art Studio. Their art works flow from the heart and use dance as a vehicle. The team has been following their unique artistic philosophy and style of body language. Through continuous experiments and explorations of organic movements, they have created a number of performances that not only resonate on one’s soul level but are also popular with the audiences. Among all the art works, the Soul & Desire Trilogy kept setting new box office records for modern dance shows produced in China. Zhao Liang Art team has started to tour overseas more often and is received with warm welcome by fans abroad.
Madaleine TriggMadaleine
Madaleine Trigg is the lecturer in Performance Arts at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed at the RCA, ICA, the Roundhouse, the Place and the National Theatre Studios, and has created new works in artistic residencies in Belgium and Germany. Madaleine’s solo performance, Sutre, has been exhibited at Kinetica Art Fair (as a hologram), represented the UK in the Extreme Costume Exhibition (2011 Prague Quadrennial) and was long listed for the 2013 Aesthetica Art Prize.
Professor Christopher Bannerman
Christopher Bannerman had an extensive career as a leading dancer, choreographer and arts education worker principally with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. He has served as Chair of Dance UK, Arts Council England’s Dance Panel and Creative Partnerships London North; co-facilitator of Rural Retreats, a series of intensive seminars for leaders in the arts, and as a member of the Dance Forum of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) UK. He is currently Professor of Dance and Head of ResCen Research Centre at Middlesex University. His research focuses on the processes and practices of artists and related cultural and policy contexts. Recent work includes an international Research Network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council developing the ArtsCross project in collaboration Queen Mary University of London, University of Exeter and with the Beijing Dance Academy and Taipei National University of the Arts. A dedicated edition of Choreographic Practices focused on ArtsCross was published in 2017.
Amy Grubb
Amy Grubb was born in Leeds, UK and trained intensively in dance from a young age and professionally at The Royal Ballet School and Central School of Ballet in London having been awarded the first Christopher Gable Dance Drama Award. Whilst in the UK she performed with The Royal Ballet and Russia's Mariinsky Ballet at The Royal Opera House, London and toured with Northern Ballet around the UK. She danced professionally with the Hong Kong Ballet for five years and in recent years has ventured into the world of modern dance performing for prominent Chinese choreographers with invitations to Guangdong Modern Dance Festival, China, Yokohama Dance Collection EX, Japan and China Dance Forward, Hong Kong. Amy also regularly collaborates with artists in cross-disciplinary projects.
The panel is moderated by Lang Xiao, Art Consultant and Art PR Specialist, ARTouch Consulting
The event is open to the public, but RSVP is essential:
lang.xiao@artouchconsulting.com or 07591 8771 85
Rui Xu is a Chinese fashion designer and contemporary artist whose works bridge fashion, painting, music and performance. She was the director of Fashion Department at China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). She later furthered her research at the Royal College of Art in London. Her solo exhibition BEAUTY ON FIRE – FOR ZAHA at the Zaha Hadid Gallery (in memory of her friend and muse – the late, great Dame Zaha Hadid), FROM XUAN TO BLINDNESS at the Royal College of Art and fashion experiment performance CHANT OF BREATH at the Saatchi Gallery both received warm response in the UK. With the increasing recognition by the UK fashion industry, Rui Xu’s work XIANGGUI was permanently collected by the world’s leading museum in art and design – V&A Museum in 2017.
Xu’s professional experiences include: Chief Costume Designer for 60th Miss World Final in 2010; Costume Designer for the Dance Theatre – The Tea Spell in 2012 & 2017; Bespoke Designer for The Elephant Family Animal Ball 2016. Rui Xu’s designs are widely collected by leading institutions and individuals, including China Silk Museum, V&A Museum, Clarence House, and Dame Zaha Hadid, etc.Body, as the common ground for fashion design and theatre creation, intricately bound up the two worlds on the stage. Join the panel discussion - Synergy: When Dance Meets Fashion, with fashion designer Rui Xu, choreographer & theatre director Zhao Liang, as well as Professor Christopher Bannerman, performance artist Madaleine Trigg and the actress from The Tea Spell Amy Grubb, to explore the boundary and possibility of fashion and dance. With Zhao Liang's dance theatre - The Tea Spell recently shown in Edinburgh, the panel will also share the story behind the creation.
About Zhao Liang (Texts provided by Zhao Liang)
Zhao Liang, a spiritual dancer and choreography wizard, has a unique flare of Eastern mystery. He was the first Chinese winner of “Roman Award” for modern dance at the international dance competition. Also presented to him were National Cultural Award as well as Lotus Cup, the highest award in the Chinese dance community, for Best Performance and Best Choreography. On his tour to Germany, Zhao Liang was referred by the local media as “Shepard” from the East. The words “dancer” and “dance” alone are not sufficient to define Zhao Liang and his works. Besides the unique somatic language of dance, his creativity and use of space, behavioral art and music make Zhao Liang a truly well rounded artist. In 2012, the artist founded Zhao Liang Art Studio. Their art works flow from the heart and use dance as a vehicle. The team has been following their unique artistic philosophy and style of body language. Through continuous experiments and explorations of organic movements, they have created a number of performances that not only resonate on one’s soul level but are also popular with the audiences. Among all the art works, the Soul & Desire Trilogy kept setting new box office records for modern dance shows produced in China. Zhao Liang Art team has started to tour overseas more often and is received with warm welcome by fans abroad.
Madaleine TriggMadaleine
Madaleine Trigg is the lecturer in Performance Arts at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed at the RCA, ICA, the Roundhouse, the Place and the National Theatre Studios, and has created new works in artistic residencies in Belgium and Germany. Madaleine’s solo performance, Sutre, has been exhibited at Kinetica Art Fair (as a hologram), represented the UK in the Extreme Costume Exhibition (2011 Prague Quadrennial) and was long listed for the 2013 Aesthetica Art Prize.
Professor Christopher Bannerman
Christopher Bannerman had an extensive career as a leading dancer, choreographer and arts education worker principally with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. He has served as Chair of Dance UK, Arts Council England’s Dance Panel and Creative Partnerships London North; co-facilitator of Rural Retreats, a series of intensive seminars for leaders in the arts, and as a member of the Dance Forum of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) UK. He is currently Professor of Dance and Head of ResCen Research Centre at Middlesex University. His research focuses on the processes and practices of artists and related cultural and policy contexts. Recent work includes an international Research Network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council developing the ArtsCross project in collaboration Queen Mary University of London, University of Exeter and with the Beijing Dance Academy and Taipei National University of the Arts. A dedicated edition of Choreographic Practices focused on ArtsCross was published in 2017.
Amy Grubb
Amy Grubb was born in Leeds, UK and trained intensively in dance from a young age and professionally at The Royal Ballet School and Central School of Ballet in London having been awarded the first Christopher Gable Dance Drama Award. Whilst in the UK she performed with The Royal Ballet and Russia's Mariinsky Ballet at The Royal Opera House, London and toured with Northern Ballet around the UK. She danced professionally with the Hong Kong Ballet for five years and in recent years has ventured into the world of modern dance performing for prominent Chinese choreographers with invitations to Guangdong Modern Dance Festival, China, Yokohama Dance Collection EX, Japan and China Dance Forward, Hong Kong. Amy also regularly collaborates with artists in cross-disciplinary projects.
The panel is moderated by Lang Xiao, Art Consultant and Art PR Specialist, ARTouch Consulting
The event is open to the public, but RSVP is essential:
lang.xiao@artouchconsulting.com or 07591 8771 85