Katharine Heath
Described in Time Out magazine as a ‘thoroughly Modern Millie’ for my DJ sets, my designs for performance also combine a fascination for history with twenty first century technology. In my work, retro aesthetics and attitudes are translated through new technology. My imagination has recently been seized by surround sound and Wii gaming and how I can apply this to dance theatre. Much of my work throughout the degree has been site-specific. I enjoy responding to a location, researching and unravelling the hidden stories held within the walls of old buildings, be it theatre, museum or hospital. A recurring theme in my work is challenging accepted forms of feminine beauty. In ‘Lift and Separate’, a collaboration with Eleanor Wdowski at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, we explored distorted images of femininity through a clash of period costumes and gender performativity with five very different dancers responding to my DJ set. Under the magnificent green chandelier, opera segued into pop as the performers danced and vogued in mini crinolines, the bare bones of hooped skirts, and corsets designed to exaggerate their features. I love combining visuals and sound and approach them in a similar way, by creating a series of epic moments building to a climax. All my work is strongly rooted in reality but transcends the everyday to become truly magical.

I like my work to be enjoyed on many different levels; my performances can be picked apart and analysed or enjoyed for their colour and beauty. I love spectacle: my work is bright, bold, dazzling, it embraces the camp flamboyance of showgirls and superheroes, retaining all the fun and exaggeration, with fantastic costumery. I adore theatre with a sense of humour and also love the rawness of performance which I feel recorded art can rarely emulate. My set designs are simple and bold in order to make space for the performers emotions. I am fascinated by human beings, their quirks and idiosyncrasies, the people I meet and see every day directly influence my character designs. Humankind in all its beauty and imperfection, unpredictability and humour inspires me to pursue my journey in theatre design.

Specific Skills: Theatre maker (Set design, Costume design, Sound design, Corsetry, Millinery, Model-Making)