One and the Same
Swan Lake
After binge watching many Chinese movies and television series, I decided to bring the Russian ballet Swan Lake into the world of China. The plot remains the same, the only difference would be that it is set in ancient China.
I wanted Odette and Odile to look like they are opposites but there is a balance their designs. Odette would have a humble and simpler silhouette and the weight of her wing like sleeves will concentrate near the bottom
For Odile, to show off her vanity, she will have an elaborate head piece which will spread out at the top.
Siegfried’s clothes may look relatively ordinary. He will mostly be in his hunting gear.
Style Test
Siegfried’s clothes will be embroidered with motifs of clouds to symbolize happiness. I chose the motif of a cloud because to me it also means freedom. This is very apt for our prince because Siegfried is described as a carefree prince who wants to marry for love. He gets upset when his queen mother tells him to marry to fulfill his duties as a prince; he feels vexed and leaves the castle on a hunting trip to clear his mind. Although he is a prince, Siegfried probably felt trap by his obligations as a prince and therefore wants to be free of it. On a scale of ordinary to other worldly, Siegfried will look like a regular Chinese prince, Odette and Odile will be in the middle having equal elements of human and swan and Rothbardt will have an exaggerated silhouette made by his feather-cloak.
Odette would have a humble and simpler silhouette and the weight of her wing like sleeves will concentrate near the bottom and her dress. The pattern on her shoulder piece and belt will have designs that resemble waves because in Chinese culture, water symbolises purity. She will also be dressed in mostly white, not only because she is the white swan, but another reason is because white is also a mourning colour. So in a way she is mourning for the state she is in which is to be under Rothbardt’s spell. She will also be wearing a little bit of blue to tie in with the water symbolism. Perhaps as she spends more time with Siegfried, her dress will become more vibrant
Rothbardt’s design was made to look really huge and intimidating and other worldly. He will have thick feathers and the silhouette of a horned owl. Odile’s clothing design will look similar to his because after all she is his daughter and she aspires to become as powerful and him one day. I decided to keep them both black ad white at first because in Chinese theatre, a black and white mask can mean a character playing a sorceress/sorcerer which is essentially what they are.
I decided to add a bit of yellow to sort of mimic the Chinese talisman.