Emeralds

Music Emeralds Pelleas et Melisande (1918) and Shylock (1889) by Gabriel Faure

Choreography by Goerge Balanchine

Jewels is unique in that the three act plotless ballet uses the music of three different composers. Blanchine used as his inspiration the artistry of the jewelry designer Claude Arpels.

“It is wonderful to see how our costume workshop, under Karinska’s direction, came so close to the quality of real stones.” Emeralds, which Balanchine considered “an evocation of France-the France of elegance, comfort, dress [and] perfume”, celebrates the 19th century dances of the French Romantics.

This costume could not be more perfect in its blend of opulence and decay. The once well though out clusters of jewels have a jumbled feel from all of the mends. The center emerald is hanging by a nest of threads.

In photographing so many vintage costumes I have become aware of the progression of the way mends are executed a as way to understand how long a costume has been knocking around. Initially, the repairs are done with great care and the effort to match fabric and threads is paramount. As the costume devolves, the fixes become hasty and even sloppy. The end stage expresses itself through not bothering to match materials at all and just quickly using anything on hand.