5. Reflection on first tutorial with John

It was great to chat to John about how I had been surprised at my own interest and enthusiasm, and discuss ways of setting the scene and finding time for the pg cert. I expressed my concern for my propensity to write too much, and that I would like to improve my ability to filter and summarise information or thoughts. He suggested using haiku! I really enjoyed this idea, as it reflects something I do in my professional practice to communicate concepts – instead of trying to communicate the full set of complex and rich, research, ideas, processes and references that have fed into the costume design of a work of dance, I like to boil it down to just a few key words or a snappy phrase (e.g. dinner party at the end of the universe, flock of golden phoenix in an oil spillage etc…) This not only allows me to communicate the essence of the idea clearly to the choreographer, my colleagues, and the performers, but is useful in keeping the direction and parameters of my design clear. I would be interested to see if this process could be taught as a technique for my students – as a way of encouraging clarity in the communication of their own design concepts.