Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds:: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail

Tamara Tomic-Vajagic

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail

Tamara Tomic-Vajagic

Centre for Research in Arts and Creative Exchange

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

Abstract The collaboration between William Forsythe and Issey Miyake in Ballett Frankfurt’s The Loss of Small Detail (1991) includes the Colombe dress, used in the finale of the first act, “the second detail.” If seen as a parallel choreographic object in Forsythe’s work, Miyake’s Colombe as “one piece of cloth” concept suggests the fold (Deleuze, 1993) as a potent epistemological principle that unites various versions of the work. Used in the solo dance that bridges two acts, the Colombe dress via the figure of fold visually hints at Forsythe’s choreographic gestures that open out balletic épaulement through “disfocus.” When Miyake’s and Forsythe’s topological gestures are juxtaposed, their discrete works reveal analogous shapeshifting that promotes multidirectional links between ballet and fashion as artistic forms that use historical and cultural frictions to fold into contemporaneity.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
Editors	Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel, Jill Nunes
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Pages	438-456
Number of pages	19
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35
Publication status	Published - Apr 2021
Event	International Dance Day Celebration 2023--Festival and Conference, Shanghai Theatre Academy - Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai, China Duration: 28 Apr 2023 → 30 Apr 2023 https://www.international-dance-day.org/mainevent.html#:~:text=The%20International%20Theatre%20Institute%20ITI,to%2030%20April%20in%20Shanghai.

Publication series

Name	The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
Publisher	Oxford University Press

Conference

Conference	International Dance Day Celebration 2023--Festival and Conference, Shanghai Theatre Academy
Country/Territory	China
City	Shanghai
Period	28/04/23 → 30/04/23
Internet address	https://www.international-dance-day.org/mainevent.html#:~:text=The%20International%20Theatre%20Institute%20ITI,to%2030%20April%20in%20Shanghai.

Keywords

Dance
Fashion design
Choreography

Access to Document

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190871499-e-35

Embargoed Document

Tomic Vajagic-ShapeShifters-OUP_MAR-2019
Accepted author manuscript, 2.92 MB
Embargo ends: 31/12/99

Tamara Tomic-Vajagic
- Centre for Research in Arts and Creative Exchange
- School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Person: Academic

1 Other
1 Performance Arts/Exhibitions/Festival outside Roehampton
1 Invited talk for an academic audience

International Dance Day Celebration at Shanghai Theatre Academy, 28-30 April 2023
Tomic-Vajagic, T. (Speaker)
30 Apr 2023
Activity: Talk or presentation for an academic audience › Invited talk for an academic audience
"Wie Tanzpartner" - essay in the performance notes/programme for White Darkness, William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal, Nacho Duato
Tomic-Vajagic, T. (Contributor) & Genee, R. (Advisor)
3 Jun 2023 → 17 Sept 2023
Activity: Public engagement and outreach › Other
Art Weekend Belgrade (AWB) 2021: Room 22/Welcome to Our Room: A Soft Oral History of the Hotel Belgrade
Tomic-Vajagic, T. (Advisor), Stratimirovic, L. (Organiser), Paenhuysen, A. (Organiser), Melentijević, L. (Contributor) & Vajagić, A. (Contributor)
20 Oct 2021 → 31 Oct 2021
Activity: Public engagement and outreach › Performance Arts/Exhibitions/Festival outside Roehampton

1 Paper
1 Other contribution

The Dance Partner: Dresden Semperoper Ballett Programme Note for "White Darkness"
Translated title of the contribution: "Wie Tanzpartner"Tomic-Vajagic, T., Jun 2023, Semperoper Ballett, Dresden Opera Ballet, Germany.
Research output: Other contribution
A snap, a bridge, the dress and the fold: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and William Forsythe’s dance structures in The Loss of Small Detail
Tomic-Vajagic, T., 6 Oct 2018.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

Cite this

Tomic-Vajagic, T. (2021). Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail . In K. Farrugia-Kriel, & J. Nunes (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet (pp. 438-456). (The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

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abstract = "Abstract The collaboration between William Forsythe and Issey Miyake in Ballett Frankfurt{\textquoteright}s The Loss of Small Detail (1991) includes the Colombe dress, used in the finale of the first act, “the second detail.” If seen as a parallel choreographic object in Forsythe{\textquoteright}s work, Miyake{\textquoteright}s Colombe as “one piece of cloth” concept suggests the fold (Deleuze, 1993) as a potent epistemological principle that unites various versions of the work. Used in the solo dance that bridges two acts, the Colombe dress via the figure of fold visually hints at Forsythe{\textquoteright}s choreographic gestures that open out balletic {\'e}paulement through “disfocus.” When Miyake{\textquoteright}s and Forsythe{\textquoteright}s topological gestures are juxtaposed, their discrete works reveal analogous shapeshifting that promotes multidirectional links between ballet and fashion as artistic forms that use historical and cultural frictions to fold into contemporaneity.",

keywords = "Dance , Fashion design, Choreography",

author = "Tamara Tomic-Vajagic",

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doi = "10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35",

language = "English",

series = "The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

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editor = "Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel and Jill Nunes",

booktitle = "Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet",

address = "United Kingdom",

note = "International Dance Day Celebration 2023--Festival and Conference, Shanghai Theatre Academy ; Conference date: 28-04-2023 Through 30-04-2023",

url = "https://www.international-dance-day.org/mainevent.html#:~:text=The%20International%20Theatre%20Institute%20ITI,to%2030%20April%20in%20Shanghai.",

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Tomic-Vajagic, T 2021, Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail . in K Farrugia-Kriel & J Nunes (eds), Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet, Oxford University Press, pp. 438-456, International Dance Day Celebration 2023--Festival and Conference, Shanghai Theatre Academy , Shanghai, China, 28/04/23. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail . / Tomic-Vajagic, Tamara.
Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet. ed. / Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel; Jill Nunes. Oxford University Press, 2021. p. 438-456 (The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

TY - CHAP

T1 - Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds:

T2 - International Dance Day Celebration 2023--Festival and Conference, Shanghai Theatre Academy

AU - Tomic-Vajagic, Tamara

PY - 2021/4

Y1 - 2021/4

N2 - Abstract The collaboration between William Forsythe and Issey Miyake in Ballett Frankfurt’s The Loss of Small Detail (1991) includes the Colombe dress, used in the finale of the first act, “the second detail.” If seen as a parallel choreographic object in Forsythe’s work, Miyake’s Colombe as “one piece of cloth” concept suggests the fold (Deleuze, 1993) as a potent epistemological principle that unites various versions of the work. Used in the solo dance that bridges two acts, the Colombe dress via the figure of fold visually hints at Forsythe’s choreographic gestures that open out balletic épaulement through “disfocus.” When Miyake’s and Forsythe’s topological gestures are juxtaposed, their discrete works reveal analogous shapeshifting that promotes multidirectional links between ballet and fashion as artistic forms that use historical and cultural frictions to fold into contemporaneity.

AB - Abstract The collaboration between William Forsythe and Issey Miyake in Ballett Frankfurt’s The Loss of Small Detail (1991) includes the Colombe dress, used in the finale of the first act, “the second detail.” If seen as a parallel choreographic object in Forsythe’s work, Miyake’s Colombe as “one piece of cloth” concept suggests the fold (Deleuze, 1993) as a potent epistemological principle that unites various versions of the work. Used in the solo dance that bridges two acts, the Colombe dress via the figure of fold visually hints at Forsythe’s choreographic gestures that open out balletic épaulement through “disfocus.” When Miyake’s and Forsythe’s topological gestures are juxtaposed, their discrete works reveal analogous shapeshifting that promotes multidirectional links between ballet and fashion as artistic forms that use historical and cultural frictions to fold into contemporaneity.

KW - Dance

KW - Fashion design

KW - Choreography

U2 - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

DO - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

M3 - Chapter

T3 - The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet

SP - 438

EP - 456

BT - Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet

A2 - Farrugia-Kriel, Kathrina

A2 - Nunes, Jill

PB - Oxford University Press

Y2 - 28 April 2023 through 30 April 2023

ER -

Tomic-Vajagic T. Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail . In Farrugia-Kriel K, Nunes J, editors, Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet. Oxford University Press. 2021. p. 438-456. (The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet). Epub 2021 Apr 14. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190871499.013.35

Shape-shifters and Colombe’s folds: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and balletic topologies in William Forsythe’s The Loss of Small Detail

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Embargoed Document

Profiles

Tamara Tomic-Vajagic

Activities

International Dance Day Celebration at Shanghai Theatre Academy, 28-30 April 2023

"Wie Tanzpartner" - essay in the performance notes/programme for White Darkness, William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal, Nacho Duato

Art Weekend Belgrade (AWB) 2021: Room 22/Welcome to Our Room: A Soft Oral History of the Hotel Belgrade

Research output

The Dance Partner: Dresden Semperoper Ballett Programme Note for "White Darkness"

A snap, a bridge, the dress and the fold: Issey Miyake’s ‘one piece of cloth’ and William Forsythe’s dance structures in The Loss of Small Detail

Cite this