Relations between body and clothing in performance: Costume as an activator of bodily actions

Abstract

This article reflects upon the relationship between body and costume in the character ‘Woman from the Past’ in the production Life and Times of Carlos & Carlos directed by Emílio Di Biasi in in São Paulo, Brazil. Drawing on the account of the performer Gaby Imparato about her scenic dress, I investigate the dynamics of body–costume relationship based on Bodymedia Theory, which reassesses the concept of body concerning design processes and practices in the production of scenic costumes and in the costume design research literature. The theory provides tools to discuss costumes and bodies intertwined in a co-defined relationship while onstage, inviting us to rethink predetermined resources in costume production. The performer’s account helps to verify how the costume designer’s intentions and stimuli offered to the body onstage, predefined in the costume design, find other paths to developing scenic actions. This proposition allows me to discuss the relationship between body and costume onstage when understood as an articulator of perception and action. Thus, I can enunciate costume as an activator of bodily actions in rehearsals and on the scene.