Valentino’s New Spin on the L’École Collection
This weekend Sydneysiders are getting schooled on the art of dance by Maison Valentino.
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For the presentation of its Summer 2024 women’s collection, Valentino headed to the École Nationale in Paris with a show that opened with FKA Twigs performing live. Now, to introduce the collection to Australian audiences, the house has invited award-winning Sydney-based dancer and choreographer Chloe Leong to create a new public work, Skin Deep.
Themed around the complex theatre of the feminine persona, the dance was choreographed by Leong and then performed by her and four female dancers in the middle of the Sydney CBD.
“There was a lot of trust involved in letting me create this for Valentino,” Leong explained, just hours before the debut.
“The main factors were to embody the concept of the collection and for me it was important to highlight, amplify and elevate the L’École collection’s connection to the skin and to the fabric.”
A young Helpmann Award recipient and member of Sydney Dance Company, Leong says she was approached by Valentino to interpret the L’Éole collection by putting her antipodean twist on it. The result is a special 8-minute performance to be staged just twice for audiences in Pitt Street this weekend, with all five dancers wearing pieces from the collection.
Leong says she set out to express the sculptural, feminine feel of the summer collection.
“There is so much beauty in the individual journey of a woman,” she says. “I wanted to underscore the concept of the collective feminine, that nourishment, support and that strength that comes from connecting with other women.”
And she is not shy about saying why she dances, she wants her audience to enjoy a sensual journey. She wants them to be moved.
“I want the audience to connect emotionally and to feel the empowerment, the power, the softness, the vulnerability and the strength in the pieces.”
If you’re in the city make sure you catch tomorrow’s performance. Skin Deep will be performed at 4 pm on March 23 on Pitt Street Mall.
The Valentino L’École collection is now available at the Valentino Castlereagh Street Boutique.
#ValentinoLÉcole
Performance Details
4 pm Saturday 23 March 2024 Pitt Street Mall, Sydney
Boutique Details:
VALENTINO SYDNEY CASTLEREAGH ST
7, 25 Martin Place
Sydney, NSW 2000
Ph: 02 8404 0888
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