Rubber Ducky
Thanks to working through my weekend and a state holiday, I'm blessed with a four day weekend. So what I do...work two of those days.
I'm volunteering my help to Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre with the costumes for their gala fund raiser. The theme this year is Atlantika. And each table sold has a costumed dancer to entertain. Costumes to date include and octopus, floating lotus and floating orchid (yes, they actually float in the pool), jellyfish, lion fish, sea anemone, star fish and....rubber duck.
It sounds kitchy doesn't it? But considering this is a fun, flashy, interactive dance company...you have to mix something completely cute and off the wall to contrast with the elegant and the extravagant.
The rubber ducky is another pool bound dancer. The flotation is actually quite brilliant. A life preserver is equipped with straps for the dancer to rest on...keeping the device at her crotch instead of around her waist. The preserver is then placed on top of an inflatable inner tube. That in turn is covered with a bubble skirt...starting at the waist, engulfing the contraption and gathering again underneath...a giant yellow flotation that allows the dancer to float effortlessly above the water...so far above in fact that the water only hits about mid-thigh.
Commence the rubber ducky. The bulk of the costume consists of two large yellow vinyl clad foam wings that extend backwards from a waist cincher. Smaller yellow vinyl feather tack onto the shape, finishing the wings. A yellow vinyl bustier finishes her torso and a frilly yellow petticoat fills in her underside.
She will be adorable!
The two days I was working with the company I was shaping foam, and covering feathers and wings pieces with the frustrating, clingy vinyl. While answering questions on the other three projects going on around me. All of the women helping out are fabulous. And all insist they have no idea what they are doing. They are, in turn, thrilled that I am they. I feel truly appreciated. And I don't mean they flatter and heap on compliments and praises. But they truly appreciate the help and respect my expertise, despite my age.
And the projects are fun. The women are fun. The energy of the group rubs off on you and the passion each of them has for this company is contagious. I've missed that feeling. These are pieces I will feel truly proud to have been a part of. And it is a true collaboration. There is no compartmentalization. Each project is handled by whomever is available to have it finished by the deadline. Everyone brings their own experiences and ideas to the plate. No one is turned down.
Next week I'll have to bring my camera.
I'm volunteering my help to Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre with the costumes for their gala fund raiser. The theme this year is Atlantika. And each table sold has a costumed dancer to entertain. Costumes to date include and octopus, floating lotus and floating orchid (yes, they actually float in the pool), jellyfish, lion fish, sea anemone, star fish and....rubber duck.
It sounds kitchy doesn't it? But considering this is a fun, flashy, interactive dance company...you have to mix something completely cute and off the wall to contrast with the elegant and the extravagant.
The rubber ducky is another pool bound dancer. The flotation is actually quite brilliant. A life preserver is equipped with straps for the dancer to rest on...keeping the device at her crotch instead of around her waist. The preserver is then placed on top of an inflatable inner tube. That in turn is covered with a bubble skirt...starting at the waist, engulfing the contraption and gathering again underneath...a giant yellow flotation that allows the dancer to float effortlessly above the water...so far above in fact that the water only hits about mid-thigh.
Commence the rubber ducky. The bulk of the costume consists of two large yellow vinyl clad foam wings that extend backwards from a waist cincher. Smaller yellow vinyl feather tack onto the shape, finishing the wings. A yellow vinyl bustier finishes her torso and a frilly yellow petticoat fills in her underside.
She will be adorable!
The two days I was working with the company I was shaping foam, and covering feathers and wings pieces with the frustrating, clingy vinyl. While answering questions on the other three projects going on around me. All of the women helping out are fabulous. And all insist they have no idea what they are doing. They are, in turn, thrilled that I am they. I feel truly appreciated. And I don't mean they flatter and heap on compliments and praises. But they truly appreciate the help and respect my expertise, despite my age.
And the projects are fun. The women are fun. The energy of the group rubs off on you and the passion each of them has for this company is contagious. I've missed that feeling. These are pieces I will feel truly proud to have been a part of. And it is a true collaboration. There is no compartmentalization. Each project is handled by whomever is available to have it finished by the deadline. Everyone brings their own experiences and ideas to the plate. No one is turned down.
Next week I'll have to bring my camera.
posted by Unknown at
10:34 PM
1 Comments:
wow. sounds like a pretty intense fundraiser. who designed this rubber ducky costume? It sounds amazing? Are you just volunteering to help out with this dance company, or are they paying you? I would surely like to see some pictures.
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