Expo: Let’s Dance at Kunstmuseum Den Haag

** First published on Cake & Caviar Sept, 25, 2019

The fashion exhibition at Kunstmuseum Den Haag ‘Let’s Dance: from tutus to sneakers’ in The Hague shows the connection between dance and fashion throughout history. Like fashion, dance is about movement, freedom and beauty. Dance and fashion have been interconnected for centuries – dance inspiring designers and fashion inspiring dance.

Big clouds of tulle

Maria Grazia Chiuri literally brought fashion and dance together last year for the Dior SS2019 collection with both professional dancers and models on the catwalk/dance floor. She was not the only designer who saw the world of dance as a great source of inspiration.

Giambattista Valli and Tomo Koizumi, for example produce designs featuring big clouds of tulle, and dancers are increasingly being used as models. Also, when designers choose a fabric, they will always look at the way it moves.

And what about tutus? Tutus are no longer restricted to dancing. Remember Björk at the 2001 Oscars? She wore a swan tutu designed by Marjan Pejoski. And yes, it is on show at Let’s Dance! Serena Williams even went all tutu on us during some of her tennis tournaments. And what about the iconic tutu outfit SJP wore during during Sex and the City? Dance, fashion but also movies and sports obviously have some common grounds.

Saturday Night Fever and Dirty Dancing

The influence of dance can also be seen on what we wear. Subcultures like hiphop for example have had quite a large influence on modern clothing. The last hall of the expo focuses on the influence of dance away from the catwalk.

It shows artists like Madonna and Michael Jackson and it has got a dancing floor in the middle surrounded by screens showing some of the most iconic dance scenes in movies. Fame, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dirty Dancing, Grease and many more pass the review.

I guess every person will feel nostalgic at some point or another during this exhibition. It’s a happy exhibition really with lots of music, one feels like dancing all the time! I appreciated the fact that many films are shown of dance performances because those dance costumes need to be seen in movement.

Let’s dance

The exhibition not only features dance costumes and influential costumes from dance films but also some incredible dancing shoes and gorgeous designs produced for ballet companies by famous couturiers like Viktor & Rolf, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Iris van Herpen and dance inspired clothes by designers like Dior, Yves Saint Laurent (inspired by the Ballets Russes), and David Laport.

I loved this exhibition, there are so many details and such nice short films. I spent quite some time in there! Let’s Dance is an interesting and colorful exhibition who will please fashionlovers, movielovers and dancelovers alike.

On show at Kunstmuseum Den Haag (previously Gemeentemuseum Den Haag) from this weekend to 12 January 2020