Live performance
The costume is designed for an adaptation of the Caucasian Chalk Circle by Berthold Brecht for the character of Grusha. My Grusha is the result of my memory of “the girl in the blue bra,” a nameless female protestor who was beaten up and stripped by the police in 2011 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Under her black abaya, she was wearing a blue bra.
My approach for designing this character is autoethnographical, based on my own emotion and memory. The movement of the costume, textiles and texture are all based on the feeling of being burdened, of frustration and confronting others’ judgement that I experienced when I saw the footage. I had been present in the same place and it could have been me. T
The shape of the dress is drawn from traditional Egyptian dress. The excessive sleeves can help her transform from being oppressed to be Isis, the mother goddess of Ancient Egypt. The colour blue is the outer layer to remind me of the “blue bra” incident, however the inner layer is her own flesh. The contrast and transformation between these two colors converts into the struggle of each Grusha trying to claim her space in the world.
Concept and costume realisation by Lina Aly Khalil.
Performer Danai Pappa. Movement Director Peta Lily.
Project Leader Donatella Barabieri and London Collage OfFashion,UAL.
Photos by Suki Lui
Year: 2018
Directed by: Peta Lily
Venue: Lime Grove studios, London, UK
