Paralympics Goes Steampunk

In case you missed it...The Olympics closing ceremonies showed us fantastic Gothic fashion with Annie Lennox and crew.  For the Paralympics, Rihanna and Coldplay wowed us with a brilliant display of Steampunk.

More in the sets than the fashion, the ornate metal contraptions, Edison bulbs, clockwork gears, vintage cars ruled the stadium. Check out the performance:

Symphony of Shadows, A Morbid Fantasia

I had the supreme pleasure of attending the first performance of this sexy and macabre show.  The production is an extravaganza of ballet, aerialists, musicians, surreal costumes, acrobats, burlesque and dancers telling a dark, but beautiful story.

Nightmares plague the central heroine every night and her corporate day job is a bigger horror still.  The heroine is haunted by everything from a sequin tossing demon, trapeze black widow, menacing hunky rats, shimmering snake contortionist, flaming fan dancer, lingerie-clad ghosts to name a few.  The eerie violin concerto is a sensuous score to this seamless, elaborate production.

Creator Rachel Klein started with a concept of the horrors of sleep paralysis.  She worked with co-story writer Sean Gill on how to portray the different nightmares.  Visual inspirations included silent films and the paintings of Henry Fusili.  Performers from her own theater company, as well as dancers from Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey and circus performers from House of Yes, Circus Warehouse, Muse and Skybox collaborated with  her to create the character movements of the horrors.  Composer Sean Hagerty produced the eerie music that set the mood.

If you are in NYC the next few weeks, definitely make the time to enjoy this show!

Thursdays - Saturdays,

June 7 – 23 at 7:30pm

Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, (between Rivington & Delancey)

Buy tickets: $15 in advance, $18 at the door, $12 (student/senior)

Photos by Mariana Leung & Michael Blase

Gothic Circus Fashion Shoot - August Bradley

I came across these fabulous photos while surfing.  They are from August Bradley's Hasselblad Masters books.  One with a circus theme, one about a man in a dark room.  They weren't marketed as fashion photography, but that's exactly what they looked like to me.  The haunting art direction has a look of wickedness and decay.  The circus photos look like a witch stirring up trouble, a wrangler of evil crows, a black widow and a sculptural gown.  The man in the dark room looks like it could be Hamlet contemplating death, or an Edgar Allen Poe type alone with his tormentors...