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What danger wears

For the Cirque du Soleil costume designer, comfort isn't key. No, she's after clothes that enhance the thrill and prolong the suspense.

By JOHN FLEMING
Published December 1, 2005

[Cirque du Soleil photos]

Limping Angels

	Eiko Ishioka
	[Publicity photo]
	Black Lizard
	Kamikaze
	Twister
	Skywatcher

Cirque du Soleil shows always draw together an eclectic group of artists, and Varekai, opening today in St. Petersburg, is especially notable for the participation of Eiko Ishioka. The Japanese designer's work, which has appeared in Hollywood films and Broadway shows, is legendary in both the commercial and experimental art worlds.

With vibrant colors and fanciful shapes, her costumes make a powerful contribution to the surreal impression of the show, whose acrobatic numbers are loosely constructed around a story line based on the Greek myth of Icarus.

Ishioka brought a distinct aesthetic to Cirque, to which she was first introduced by movie director Francis Ford Coppola when he took her to a performance of Saltimbanco some years ago.

She was enlisted for Varekai by the show's director, Dominic Champagne, who got in touch with her after reading Eiko On Stage. This coffee-table book of illustrations from some of her movie, theater and opera productions includes her Oscar-winning costume design for Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Coppola. The cover shows a closeup of the vivid red, ribbed bodysuit she designed for Jennifer Lopez in The Cell.

"My goal is always to create work that is timeless, revolutionary and original," Ishioka said in a 2003 interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Born in Tokyo during World War II, she has lived up to her daunting ambition in a remarkably prolific, influential career that started as an art director and graphic designer. In the 1970s, she changed the look of Japanese advertising, publishing and fashion with one sensational campaign after another.

Many of these are covered in another sumptuous volume, Eiko on Eiko, which came out in 1983 and became a virtual bible for art directors and designers. The imagery ranges from Faye Dunaway peeling and eating a hard-boiled egg in TV commercials for Parco, an upscale department store, to an atmospheric album cover for Miles Davis, to a brilliant orange poster for the Japanese release of Apocalypse Now.

"She is the avant-garde of the avant-garde," novelist Hiroyuki Itsuki said in one of the 15 essays on Ishioka in the book.

In the 1980s Ishioka opened her own design studio and eventually settled in New York City. She did more and more theatrical work, including spectacular costume design for a Netherlands Opera production of Wagner's Ring cycle. On Broadway, her set and costume design for M. Butterfly and magician David Copperfield's Dreams & Nightmares were strikingly unconventional.

In recent years, Ishioka has introduced her radical vision into some unlikely arenas. She designed uniforms for skiers, ski-jumpers and speed skaters from Japan, Canada, Switzerland and Spain in the 2002 Winter Olympics. She directed the music video for Bjork's single Cocoon.

Ishioka's radical sensibility was a good match for Cirque, which wanted to go in a new direction with Varekai, premiered in 2002. But there were practical concerns that had to be uppermost in designing for trapeze artists and other highflying performers.

"One of my objectives at Cirque du Soleil is to design costumes that will accentuate and even reinforce the visual and emotional impact of the risks taken by the artists, while ensuring their complete safety," Ishioka said in a news release.

She summarized her approach in the Los Angeles Times interview by stating the question she asked herself when pondering the project: "Why don't I design costumes that look dangerous but are actually safe?"

In other words, she went on, "If the audience sees the artists wearing costumes that look comfortable, they won't feel thrilled by the performance. Even though the acrobatic artists are performing very dangerous, high-risk acts that will make the audience "ooh' and "aah' for the first few minutes, if the artists look comfortable in what they are wearing, the audience will lose the thrill pretty quickly. I want to design costumes that keep the audience in suspense until the very end of the show."

Ishioka had a profound impact on Varekai, not just for audiences but also for other members of the Cirque creative team. As composer Violaine Corradi said, "Eiko is just such an interesting person that she did influence my music. She brings an entire universe with her."

- John Fleming can be reached at 727 893-8716 or fleming@sptimes.com

Cirque du Soleil's Varekai opens today and runs through Dec. 31 under the big top, Tropicana Field parking lot, St. Petersburg. $35-$70, $31.50-$63 seniors, $24.50-$49 children. Toll-free 1-800-678-5440; www.cirquedusoleil.com

[Last modified November 30, 2005, 11:29:06]