In Relation to “Flesh and Blood” Discuss Andersons’ Use of Dancers, Costumes and Movement Content. Provide Detailed Examples from the Choreography.

Costume: The costume throughout Flesh and Blood is a very important attribute to the piece. All seven of the female dancers wear the same costume in each of the five sections therefore this shows that the costume that Lea Anderson chose was relevant to the themes within the piece all the way through. The costumes are of a medieval style, we know this from the design of the dress as they have square necks and tight fitting wrist length sleeves much like the dresses that were worn in that time period. The dresses reach ankle length on each of the dances and have a fitted torso with a dropped v-waist which then falls into a slightly gathered, loose material lower half which flows down from the waist to the ankle. In this piece I believe it is important for the dresses to be fitted on the arms and torso area as these are the main areas of which are used in the contact work such as lifts- and it then makes it easier to perform these moves as dancers can get a better grip on each other. There are also many intricate arm and hand movements where dancers have to intertwine with each other- therefore the tight fitting arms ensure that the moves can be performed with clarity and precision. The material of the dresses is particularly specific to the underlying storyline of Joan of Arc, as it is a metallic and shiny stretchy silver fabric. This infers the idea of the dresses symbolising armour, which is relevant to the battles that Joan of Arc had to fight. The masculine armour like fabric then contrasts against the feminine style of dress, again backing up the important theme of Joan of Arc throughout the piece. The shiny material also shimmers in the light and emphasises movements and enhances angles that the dancers perform, whether they are big or small moves which then makes developing motifs clearer to see. The dancers have bare feet in each section of the dance, I believe this adds a sense of vulnerability to the hard faced characters and shows that no matter