The world we live in contains various types of groups, classes, and organizations to bond and cohabitate. And last month's New York Fashion Week introduced a new form to the mix, "clump choreography." The term was coined by 28-year-old Elle Erdman to describe the experimental dance she created for Eckhaus Latta's Spring/Summer 2015 show. As you might've guess, it's the antithesis of the struts and glides normally seen on catwalks.
A graduate of SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance, Erdman relishes in creating movement in unconventional spaces, from galleries like 303 to clubs like Berghain to rooftops and subways. This “site-specific dance,” as she calls her style, is "created in response to a particular space.” In the case of the Eckhaus Latta show, Erdman created a down-tempo routine where models, after walking in a more conventional procession, returned en masse to the runway and began merging into three groups, embracing like post-apocalypse survivors huddling for warmth. All this was set to the ethereal moans of the Trinity Youth Chorus.
“I wanted it to be uncomfortable and awkward,” Erdman explained. “I think models have this way of doing what they’re told, and when they’re not told exactly what to do, there’s that awkward factor. A lot of them were laughing, a lot of them were confused, and I thought that humanized them.”
This subversion of typical fashion show aesthetics fits in perfectly with the aesthetic of bi-coastal design duo Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta. As OC blog readers know, the duo create avant-garde, sculptural garments made of innovative materials ranging from selvedge carpeting to industrial plastic. For Spring/Summer 2015, Echkaus and Latta created a unisex collection that was equal parts hard and soft, made up of stiff denim, sheer knits, and terry-cloth two-pieces. The RISD grads also have a history of bridging the worlds of art and fashion, from collaborating with Bjarne Melgaard to showing at the 55th Annual Venice Biennale with Dora Budor.
The designers aren't the only ones fascinated with dance as of late. Editors and fashion journalists took note when Rick Owens commissioned a group of traditional step dancers to perform during the finale of his Spring/Summer 2014 runway show in Paris. Since, designers including Gareth Pugh and Astrology IRL have incorporated dance performance into their shows; the obsession culminating with FIT's fall exhibition, Dance & Fashion.
That said, Eckhaus Latta and Elle Erdman’s collaboration was by far the least conventional iteration of the trend. Their partnership was more concerned with expanding on the typical runway format than it was with classical dance performance, Eckhaus explained via e-mail. “In working with Elle, we wanted to establish something that was not as much about 'dance' as it was exploring choreography to create alternative means to presenting the collection and interaction found between the models.”
Erdman experienced this herself as much as she orchestrated and observed it. Days before the performance, the designers asked her to walk in the show and participate in the dance. “That was scary because I couldn’t see what was happening," she said. "But it felt better to be right in it and to energetically know what was going on around me.”
Despite her inclination toward the experimental, the choreographer prefers not to label her work as performance art. “It’s bordering [between performance art and dance], but I like to keep it dance. By performance art, I mean I am pulling in costumes, musicians, and imagery. The fact that
A graduate of SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance, Erdman relishes in creating movement in unconventional spaces, from galleries like 303 to clubs like Berghain to rooftops and subways. This “site-specific dance,” as she calls her style, is "created in response to a particular space.” In the case of the Eckhaus Latta show, Erdman created a down-tempo routine where models, after walking in a more conventional procession, returned en masse to the runway and began merging into three groups, embracing like post-apocalypse survivors huddling for warmth. All this was set to the ethereal moans of the Trinity Youth Chorus.
“I wanted it to be uncomfortable and awkward,” Erdman explained. “I think models have this way of doing what they’re told, and when they’re not told exactly what to do, there’s that awkward factor. A lot of them were laughing, a lot of them were confused, and I thought that humanized them.”
This subversion of typical fashion show aesthetics fits in perfectly with the aesthetic of bi-coastal design duo Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta. As OC blog readers know, the duo create avant-garde, sculptural garments made of innovative materials ranging from selvedge carpeting to industrial plastic. For Spring/Summer 2015, Echkaus and Latta created a unisex collection that was equal parts hard and soft, made up of stiff denim, sheer knits, and terry-cloth two-pieces. The RISD grads also have a history of bridging the worlds of art and fashion, from collaborating with Bjarne Melgaard to showing at the 55th Annual Venice Biennale with Dora Budor.
The designers aren't the only ones fascinated with dance as of late. Editors and fashion journalists took note when Rick Owens commissioned a group of traditional step dancers to perform during the finale of his Spring/Summer 2014 runway show in Paris. Since, designers including Gareth Pugh and Astrology IRL have incorporated dance performance into their shows; the obsession culminating with FIT's fall exhibition, Dance & Fashion.
That said, Eckhaus Latta and Elle Erdman’s collaboration was by far the least conventional iteration of the trend. Their partnership was more concerned with expanding on the typical runway format than it was with classical dance performance, Eckhaus explained via e-mail. “In working with Elle, we wanted to establish something that was not as much about 'dance' as it was exploring choreography to create alternative means to presenting the collection and interaction found between the models.”
Erdman experienced this herself as much as she orchestrated and observed it. Days before the performance, the designers asked her to walk in the show and participate in the dance. “That was scary because I couldn’t see what was happening," she said. "But it felt better to be right in it and to energetically know what was going on around me.”
Despite her inclination toward the experimental, the choreographer prefers not to label her work as performance art. “It’s bordering [between performance art and dance], but I like to keep it dance. By performance art, I mean I am pulling in costumes, musicians, and imagery. The fact that