The costumes for Cirque du Soleil’s new show, “Ovo,” are designed by Liz Vandal, who specializes in extreme movement. Vandal has been working with Cirque du Soleil since 2008, creating unique, colorful costumes that allow the performers to perform elaborate acrobatic stunts uninhibited. She spoke with Neon Tommy about her role in creating costumes for "Ovo,” which comes to Santa Monica in late January.

What were you inspired by while designing the costumes for this show?

"Well, the world of insects was sort of my passion when I was a child, so I was very inspired by that general theme. It was sort of a quest to find the approach for the design because our artistic director wanted us to implicate the world of insects. These costumes [required] a very abstract angle for me at first. I had to think of what I was the feeling toward the spider, for example. I had to close my eyes and think, oh, a spider—it’s an elegant, sexy, long-limbed woman. I had to think in these terms. It was inspiring in that way."

How did you do the research? Did you look at pictures, or did you look at insects that were living?

"I looked at insects for some colors, and textures of the shells, but I more looked for textures in nature, for infinitely small pictures of a leaf, or the scales of a fish. And all of this research made me realize that there are universal textures that we find everywhere in the world of nature. They repeat. It’s more like philosophical research. For example, cockroaches are ugly, and I don’t want to be next to them. There is something repulsive about them. So I had to trade a beautiful costume for something else."

What kind of considerations needed to be made in the costumes for different members of the cast? For example, do the acrobats require something different than the trampoline artists? 

"I think it’s much more simple than what people imagine. It’s sort of a logical process. The body needs to be able to move naturally. Just like today, I’m wearing this very tight black dress that doesn’t have any stretch, and I feel uncomfortable! The costume is like the skin, it needs to stretch and adapt. I based my costumes for Ovo on the stretchiness of the fabric. I combined fabric that's used to make bathing suits with other fabric. Layers of fabric that all stretch. My research permitted us to build some fabrics from scratch so that some of the fabrics, like that for crickets, have pleats. It looks like a muscle in a way. It just has to move with the body in the extreme purposes."

Do the costumes last for the entire run of the show? Do they require repairs?

"Like anything, when you gain something, you lose something. The more you add detail, the more you have possibilities of breaking. Of course there are rips. We have a couple of costumes of the same kind, to ensure that there are backups in case anything happens."

How was designing for this show different than your past work?

"I have a lot of experience in the world of dance, and my designs in that field actually used to be quite minimalist. So this time, for the first time, I was allowed to just sort of let it all out. I was allowed to use colors, shapes, transformative textures. It was a real pleasure."

How do you use color in your designs? Is that a focus for you?

"Because we are in the circus, we have the opportunity to use very bright, strong colors. Right there, we have the public attention. At first the crickets were all green, but then we decided that we had to use a little bit more color with them. Nothing should distract you from the body. The idea is using just enough tone not to distract—that is the challenge."

What do you expect in your future?

"I’m a specialist of the body in extreme movement. I will always stay with extreme movement because that’s where I specialize, and that’s where the clients will come. I’d love to develop a product line of dance or swimwear. But that’s sort of a secret that I share with you."

 

Cirque du Soleil's "Ovo" will be performing under the Big Top at the Santa Monica Pier from January 20 - March 25, 2012. 

For tickets, check out the website here. 

Contact reporter Anita here.