Female pierrot in Laiderette
Costume Design
1955 (made)
1955 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Costume design by Kenneth Rowell for the ballet Laiderette, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to music by Frank Martin.
Laiderette was created by Kenneth MacMillan for the Sadler's Wells choreographic group on 24 January 1954 and redesigned by Kenneth Rowell when it was taken into the repertory of Ballet Rambert on 4 July 1955. Ballet Rambert performed it at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, and on tour. Its title is taken from the French ‘laideronette’, 'little ugly one', but, allegedly to avoid confusion with regional audiences thinking it had anything to do with new launderettes, it was called Mask and Face for touring purposes. It remained in Rambert's repertory until 1967.
The narrative of the ballet tells how a young girl, Laiderette, is abandoned on the steps of a grand house where a mask seller supplies her with a mask. She is drawn into a masked party and falls in love with the host but he recoils when she is unmasked and discovered to be bald. Laiderette was a sensitive ballet with an air of fantasy. This collaged design shows a pierrot character in white mask and ragged brown dress over a crinoline, and a brown feathered hat. Peter Williams describing the designs for the ballet in Dance and Dancers, September 1955, writes of the mousey browns of the poorer characters which blended with the soft pastels of the rich: 'Of course there are rags a-plenty and, though we have suffered a surfeit of rags from French designers, these are different. The dingy reds and browns take on the quality of Indonesian Batik in the costumes of the Pierrots. Their masks and make-up have the age-old yet ageless sheen of yellowing oriental ivories.' With Rowell's designs for Laiderette Williams claimed that Marie Rambert had found her 'best post-war designer'
Laiderette was created by Kenneth MacMillan for the Sadler's Wells choreographic group on 24 January 1954 and redesigned by Kenneth Rowell when it was taken into the repertory of Ballet Rambert on 4 July 1955. Ballet Rambert performed it at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, and on tour. Its title is taken from the French ‘laideronette’, 'little ugly one', but, allegedly to avoid confusion with regional audiences thinking it had anything to do with new launderettes, it was called Mask and Face for touring purposes. It remained in Rambert's repertory until 1967.
The narrative of the ballet tells how a young girl, Laiderette, is abandoned on the steps of a grand house where a mask seller supplies her with a mask. She is drawn into a masked party and falls in love with the host but he recoils when she is unmasked and discovered to be bald. Laiderette was a sensitive ballet with an air of fantasy. This collaged design shows a pierrot character in white mask and ragged brown dress over a crinoline, and a brown feathered hat. Peter Williams describing the designs for the ballet in Dance and Dancers, September 1955, writes of the mousey browns of the poorer characters which blended with the soft pastels of the rich: 'Of course there are rags a-plenty and, though we have suffered a surfeit of rags from French designers, these are different. The dingy reds and browns take on the quality of Indonesian Batik in the costumes of the Pierrots. Their masks and make-up have the age-old yet ageless sheen of yellowing oriental ivories.' With Rowell's designs for Laiderette Williams claimed that Marie Rambert had found her 'best post-war designer'
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Female pierrot in Laiderette (generic title) |
| Brief description | Costume design by Kenneth Rowell for a female pierrot in Kenneth MacMillan's ballet Laiderette as performed by Ballet Rambert in 1955 |
| Physical description | Collage costume design for a female pierrot on a painted grey-blue background. Full length figure wearing a ragged, brown knee-length dress, the bell-shaped skirt supported on a crinoline, the bodice and skirt decorated with white pom-poms. She has a brown hat, a small white ruff and a white half-mask, and stands between two wooden structures. Inscribed 'Laiderette' at lower left and signed, lower right, 'Rowell'. |
| Credit line | John Percival Collection, given by Judith Percival |
| Summary | Costume design by Kenneth Rowell for the ballet Laiderette, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to music by Frank Martin. Laiderette was created by Kenneth MacMillan for the Sadler's Wells choreographic group on 24 January 1954 and redesigned by Kenneth Rowell when it was taken into the repertory of Ballet Rambert on 4 July 1955. Ballet Rambert performed it at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, and on tour. Its title is taken from the French ‘laideronette’, 'little ugly one', but, allegedly to avoid confusion with regional audiences thinking it had anything to do with new launderettes, it was called Mask and Face for touring purposes. It remained in Rambert's repertory until 1967. The narrative of the ballet tells how a young girl, Laiderette, is abandoned on the steps of a grand house where a mask seller supplies her with a mask. She is drawn into a masked party and falls in love with the host but he recoils when she is unmasked and discovered to be bald. Laiderette was a sensitive ballet with an air of fantasy. This collaged design shows a pierrot character in white mask and ragged brown dress over a crinoline, and a brown feathered hat. Peter Williams describing the designs for the ballet in Dance and Dancers, September 1955, writes of the mousey browns of the poorer characters which blended with the soft pastels of the rich: 'Of course there are rags a-plenty and, though we have suffered a surfeit of rags from French designers, these are different. The dingy reds and browns take on the quality of Indonesian Batik in the costumes of the Pierrots. Their masks and make-up have the age-old yet ageless sheen of yellowing oriental ivories.' With Rowell's designs for Laiderette Williams claimed that Marie Rambert had found her 'best post-war designer' |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.4105-2013 |
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| Record created | March 17, 2014 |
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