Tracy Koronik: I do zombies too.

Ok, so it's June. And with June comes the end of year performance put on by my dance studio. I'm in a few numbers this year, but I think the costumes for one dance in particular are going to be extra awesome. The dance is a lyrical/modern number to the song Ramalama (Bang Bang) by Róisín Murphy, and the concept is that we're ballerinas that have risen from the dead. Everyone in my class was given a costume with a tutu from a previous recital and told to have at it.

I received:

1 sort of sky blue costume with velvet bodice, a few embellishments, and a long flowing skirt, slightly Cinderella-esque

1 white tutu

My materials:

1 pair of scissors

1 razor knife
a few pairs of rubber gloves

4 colors of spray paint - red, black, silver, and copper

1 color of screenprinting ink - dark charcoal grey

1 half full bottle of fake blood

2 other costume elements - elbow length white gloves and flesh toned stockings

Assistants:

My mom

My friend Ashley

I spray painted the tutu with the four colors to make it look dirty, old, and a bit bloody. I then tore the bottom edges for some deconstruction and wear, and also cut some slashes and pieces with my razor knife.

I had my mom help me achieve the shape I wanted for the dress by first jaggedly cutting the skirt shorter all the way around. Next we cut straight up the center of the skirt in order to open the front to show some tutu, and also get a bit of a drape. I didn't want the skirt completely even, and I liked the drape effect, so we tacked up different areas of the skirt to give it a careless yet cohesive look. The shape was right, but it was still too clean and nice.

Time for the fun part. Ashley and I took the dress, gloves, and tutu outside to a grassy area to get some nice dirt and grass stains on both the gloves and dress. Next came the fake blood. We generously poured and splashed fake blood down from the top of the dress to get a good look going. The dress was laid down on the grass and we splashed and splattered the blood over the front and back. While that dried some we went to work bloodying the gloves and splattering a bit on the tutu. Last came the grey screenprinting ink. We both pressed our palms into the ink and proceeded to randomly grab the dress to leave marks. We had been discussing putting tire tracks across the dress, but decided it wasn't necessary after the work we did.

Last was to cut the gloves a little bit - just a few cut off fingertips, fingers, and a couple of poorly sewn up holes - and to get a little fake blood on the stockings. Luckily the stockings are basically a perfect match for my actual skin color, so I'll just look like I have blood on my legs while up on stage.

And finally, some photos! I don't have any photos with the tutu under the skirt giving it shape yet, so just imagine for now!