Working for a ballet is always a great challenge,
because the dress is connected to the body,
to a body in motion.
I like it very much because it raises questions every time,
even technical ones, to realise our artistic vision.
Dance is in the DNA of the Maison.
Christian Dior designed the costumes for Treize Danses in 1947,
which was choreographed by Roland Petit.
So it's something that's in the DNA of the Maison,
and thus also in other situations.
Dance is a passion for Maria Grazia's, so this is not her first project.
In fact, we have done several with great choreographers,
Angelin Preljocaj now.
It is a theme...
It's a different kind of creativity that is very stimulating for Maria Grazia.
The project was born from a desire of the French ambassador, Mr Christian Masset,
of Eleonora Abbagnato, the director of the Rome Opera House
and also of Maria Grazia,
who was involved in making and creating the costumes at Dior.
All these three partners decided to do a real project here,
a kind of strolling choreography in the Palazzo Farnese.
Then we agreed on a synopsis that I wrote,
which is a very simple story,
based on the mythology of the goddess of the night,
who is Nyx
and comes upon the Palazzo Farnese to bring darkness
and mystery in this place of power,
in this place where people live love stories,
stories of passion.
And try to translate that with dance
and, of course, with the camera and with the cinematographic processes.
We thought that the Palazzo Farnese could offer a space for creators.
It is truly the perfect match between Italy and France for us,
the ideal trait d'union,
because it is precisely the will to share poetry,
creation and what makes our two coutries,
our two nations, our two cultures brilliant,
that is art, art first and foremost.
The great thing that could be done in these months was to make a spectacle,
therefore opera but also dance, outside the theatre.
Preljocaj imagined a story,
a Roman night to be set here in the palace,
and this gave Maria Grazia Chiuri the idea to invent costumes from scratch.
Yes, costumes are very important for a choreographer
and for the dancers,
because the costumes are here to extend the movement,
they give a kind of trace in space too,
a trace of movement,
a kind of almost instantaneous memory of the movement.
And it's great how the collaboration with Maria Grazia was really interesting,
because we had a very fruitful exchange
and an inspiring communication.
That is to say, I propose an idea, she receives it,
she sends me back something that is enriched,
that stimulates me, and that's how the whole collaboration worked.
My job was to try to coordinate
and to create dresses that would somehow constitute a common thread in the story,
respecting the choreographer's narrative,
but at the same time giving an overall vision that was my own,
which also respected Dior's codes in relation to the location.
We can give him white stretch jeans...
if they make these movements, he's...
The first movement is...
For years, our atelier has been making all opera and ballet costumes
that are worn on our stage.
This time, we have once again taken on a show
designed by the Maison Dior and Maria Grazia Chiuri.
It is a composition of many small choreographies
that will be set in the halls of the Palazzo Farnese.
So each small piece has a theme appropriate to the hall
where the ballet will be performed.
This is fine.
We have to try it...
In my opinion it's better to try them on the stage, if Anna agrees.
For me it's fine, yes, I prefer it too.
So let's see with the lights.
I don't think there should be any problem, because we have intensified it.
Yes we have.
We intensify it again.
Do you have them?
Another aspect I also liked
was to be able to make complex dresses,
such as those draped with pearls,
because the choreographer also wanted to hear the sound.
So it's not just a dress that you can see with your eyes,
it's also one that you can hear.
We had to find the right technique
and a combination of technique and creativity
to make these draped dresses.
And at the same time, within these drapes,
there are these pearl fringes,
which look almost like chimes in the dance
because they also give an idea of sound.
It's very important to feel beautiful with the costumes,
so each character...
of course, this particularity of Nyx finds its femininity in the costume
and in the choreography.
There are many costumes,
because obviously it's an extremely complex choreography.
In the case of this costume...
actually, it's obviously inspired by the popes,
because in this choreography we will have three popes.
The historical reference, which we have been given,
is a painting by Velázquez depicting Innocent X,
with the input from the choreographer on this painting's transposition
by Francis Bacon, also inspired by Innocent X.
Here we find two worlds, the world of dance
and the world of fashion, which somehow seek a dialogue,
so it was very interesting
to be able to process all this artistic information:
dance, fashion, costumes.
To be able to technically but also artistically rethink a costume
which will then be used for the dance.
I came back to Italy to understand that dance was born
in Italy and in France,
and it's a particular style.
Italian artists always have something special
in their interpretation,
they are much more sensitive.
It's true that there is a diversity:
the technique in France is very high level,
but it's true that our artists always have a particularity in their interpretation.
It was amazing to see and to have a little tour through the Palazzo.
All the statues tell a story,
even without speaking for many hundred of years,
so the pas de deux, which l am dancing with Eleonora Abbagnato, is about that.
It's one of the statues not talking over hundred of years
and suddenly she appears and she touches me,
and from stone, from hard rock,
I become very soft, almost liquid.
Dance is body language.
Everything that comes…
the movement is the result, but it comes from us,
from very deep inside,
and that's our feelings expressing through the movement.