Performances, Profiles

Interview with Natalie Purschwitz – MIMIC

By Ashley Brodeur
2 min read | April 17, 2018

PEOPLE OF DJD//

There are many people that make up the community at the DJD Dance Centre. From artists, administrators, volunteers and beyond, these walls are pulsing with personality.

NATALIE PURSCHWITZ
Costume Designer

  1. WHAT WAS THE FIRST COSTUME PIECE YOU MADE FOR DJD? 

One of the first pieces I made for DJD was a statue-like dress that Sarisa Figuoera de Toledo wore in “Velvet”.  She got wheeled onto the stage on a very tall, tiered  platform with the skirt, that was made to resemble stone, covering the entire platform.  Her upper body and face were painted white to match the skirt and her feet were fixed into place so that she could lean out really far in any direction giving the effect of a music box dancer.

2. WHICH DJD SHOW WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TO WORK ON?

Ooh, that’s tough… there were so many!  The shows I especially loved were Wiseapple, Year of the Horse and New Universe.

3. HOW DOES YOUR ART PRACTICE INFLUENCE YOUR COSTUME DESIGN? 

I work with clothing, or the idea of clothing, in a lot of my artwork so there tends to be some overlap.  I guess in both practices I’m inspired and motivated by materials.  I’m also always curious about how costumes (or clothes in general) can influence and affect who a performer is and what a performer can do when they are wearing them, which is something that I also think about sometimes in my sculptural explorations with clothes.

4. HOW DID THE BANFF PUPPET INTENSIVE INSPIRE YOUR DESIGNS FOR THIS PIECE? 

Kim had been talking to me about the Intensive for a couple of years already so I was pretty excited to experience it.  And, of course, it was incredible to be in an environment where everyone was completely able to let go of the day to day drudgery of life and get focused on something so specific.  I loved learning about the craft of puppetry and all of its intricacies. It was excellent to experience Pete’s world and perspective and then later meet with Kim and Pete to bounce ideas back and forth.  It was also really invaluable to have the workshop set up with all kind of materials and supplies to just try things out or make mock ups to help visualize how something could unfold. I think ultimately is was about trying to develop a common language that we could all move forward with.