Looking back – John Neumeier and Yondering

by Caroline O'Brien

When Yondering was created in 1996, I was tasked with designing the costumes in collaboration with Neumeier himself and so was invited to sit in while he worked with the students. Watching one of the world’s most accomplished choreographers incubate a new work on a group of highly talented dancers was a wonder-filled time. 

John began the design process by introducing words that suggested the overall look and feel he sought for the costumes; words such as minimalist,  Quaker, Shaker and American. We finally agreed on a single dress design in gossamer-like cotton that could be worn by each female dancer, cotton being a more cost effective solution to the handkerchief linen first sourced.  He wanted a body stocking for the Dreamer girl that would be softly feminine but not over emphasize the female figure. We settled on one in a muted blue-grey.  The boys’ costumes were inspired by garments that Neumeier had brought with him, a linen/rayon shirt and linen trousers. Sand coloured, these costumes were made as form fitting as the fabric would permit.  The suspenders and hats I sourced from an army surplus store at the corner of Jarvis and Queen.

John was a gracious, patient and kind collaborator who challenged and provoked responses that changed how each of us understood our art form.  Being a part of Yondering’s creation remains one of the most rewarding experiences I had in the almost twenty years I worked at the School

Caroline O'Brien, costume designer

Caroline O’Brien is a costume designer, writer and educator presently completing Ph.D. studies at The National College of Art and Design in Dublin.  Caroline is an Associate Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

As a costume designer she served at Canada’s National Ballet School from 1989 until 2007 and has worked with major international ballet and contemporary dance companies and choreographers. 
    
Caroline’s research has recently been published in Luce Irigaray’s Building a New World: Teaching, and in Shapeshifting, a publication produced by the Textile and Design Laboratory and Colab at the Auckland University of Technology, February 2015.  Caroline’s research interrogates the history of dress with a particular emphasis on the design process for costume in the sociocultural world of the ballet.  She is the recent recipient of the Richard Martin award from The Costume Society of America for excellence in costume exhibition for Sixty Years of Designing the Ballet.