b'narrative and dialogue, but had a role in influ- formance as other dramatic elements, it still was encing and dictating movement. Indeed, costumedeveloped late in the production process. Meyer-often contradicted the plot of the play and reflect- holds work was highly stylised, and the produc-ed only its emotional content, giving the body itstion process was more concerned with the intri-own agenda separate from purely visual aestheticscate biomechanics of performance, around which on stage (Adaskina 1987:147). Fundamentally,costume and other design elements worked. Bauhaus and Constructivist performance bothSchlemmer, on the other hand, foregrounded aimed to highlight the importance of the body yetcostume at the outset. He used it in many cases to approached it from almost polar angles. Whilstinfluence the journey of the performance and dic-Bauhaus costume expanded and enhancedtate the very capabilities of the bodys movement. human form, Constructivist work, specificallyWhat people wore was designed to impede move-under Tatlin, concentrated on the contours ofment or shape, drawing attention to the construct-the body, reducing them in some way to basicedness of the costumes as well their materials geometrical shapes (Barbieri 2017:141). Construc- (Birringer 2013:42). Here we can see the relation-tivist costume, in keeping with the wider functionship between costume and body was more symbi-of Constructivist theatre, focused on practicalityotic; they enhanced and manipulated one other. and utility. with the performer was incorporatedThis dynamic between the organic geometry of into the whole design of the piece, complement- the human body, and the abstract geometry of the ing visually and sculpturally with the set (Bar- surrounding space and costume was a key driver bieri 2017:149). There is an interesting dramaticin Bauhaus performance, shown in Schlemmers tension between the abstract thought and theTriadic Ballet, a performance focused on costume emphatic focus on literal physical form. Donatelladivided into three differently coloured sections Barbieri (2017:149) makes an interesting point of(Lahausen 1986: 68). Schlemmer used costume to linking our preconceptions of Constructivist the- combine, and set in motion and in time, geomet-atre to how we analyse its costume. By constantlyric forms extending the perfect mathematic or connecting Constructivism to its focus on utilitygeometry of the body gestalt (Barbieri 2017:158). and function, we assume the costumes were notIt is the energy surrounding this balance of con-designed so much for visual synergies with theflict that makes Bauhaus costumes almost uncan-set but driven by ideological concerns of findingny; they are something that we recognise yet feel a suitable flexible worksuit for theatre. Thiscompletely disconnected from. This is different to is influenced further by the utilitarian, nonrep- perceptions of Constructivist costume, where body resentational set, specifically in The Magnani- and costume are more organically combined. mous Cuckold, whose industrial and practical backdrop made plain work-clothes, for the bodyThe setting in which these costumed performanc-of an active stage performer, make perfect sense.es of the body took place is equally central in However, upon deeper analysis the costumesthe representation of the human form. This is so function as a bridge between the artists sympathyboth for the literal set, apparent in Constructiv-with and feeling for the human body and theist work, and the more abstract backgrounds of contemporary concern for geometric form (Trim- Bauhaus space. For Meyerholds productions, set ingham 2011:137). Barbieri (2017:149) maintains,was more than just a backdrop to bodily per-the costumes were as carefully constructed as anyformance as the art of the actor was the art of stage element in the play. She believes, despitesculptural forms in space (Meyerhold 1922:10-black and white images, colour would have been11). Like Bauhaus costume, it influenced and used, with shaping, so more in keeping withexpanded upon the limits of movements of the Bauhaus ideas of costume, to harmonize with thebody. Meyerhold took particular interest in how space whilst enabling free movement of the bodythe three-dimensional actor could relate to and to fulfil the biomechanical demands of the per- harmonise with the two-dimensionality of the set former.design, exploiting the difference between the ac-tor and the restricted, painterly stagea tension The difference between Constructivist and Bau- with comparisons to the design dynamic between haus costume is represented in the way they werebody and costume (Barnett 2018: 45). However, developed. Even though, as stated, costume invitally, Meyerholds understanding of the func-Grace Clifford recreating Oskar Schlemmers Slat Dance. Photo, Cathy Turner Meyerholds theatre was as key a part of the per- tional possibilities and relationship between body 58 59'