Lara Monro Interviews Choreographer Holly Blakey In Anticipation of the Premiere of Cowpuncher My Ass →
Born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Holly Blakey found contemporary dance as a teenager. After she was rejected by a number of well-known dance schools, she attended University of Roehampton where teaching dance was the only option. What was initially a devastating and painful life transition turned out to be a profound moment for Blakey, leading to a fruitful career as a choreographer. Free from the confines of institutional models and languages of dance, she created her own — one that advocates drama and our lived experiences.
Honesty, intimacy, and a sense of community feed into her work, as does her fascination with music, film, and TV. Her ability to emulate pop culture has led Blakey to traverse multiple creative industries such as directing music videos for musicians who include Florence Welch and Coldplay. She also had a longstanding collaboration with the late fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, whose widower Andreas Kronthaler, has designed the costumes for the return of her performance of Cowpuncher My Ass. This Wild West dance show, scored by Mica Levi, takes the notion of the hyper masculine, yet camp cowboy, as a starting point to explore the archetypes of masculinity through non-linear perspectives.
Cowpuncher My Ass will be playing at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Wednesday 15 February at 7:30 pm.
Autre’s London editor at large, Lara Monro, spoke with Blakey in between rehearsals to discuss how the performance challenges what might be deemed acceptable in choreography and much more. Read more.
Backstage At Vivienne Westwood's SS18 Presentation During Paris Fashion Week
photographs by Jim Tobias Johnston
Politicians Are Criminals: A Special Message From Vivienne Westwood
Politicians R Criminals / COP 21 is a lie - say one thing + mean another. Business as usual will kills us. A green economy will save us.
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Tattered to Shreds: Read Our Interview of Patrick Matamoros of Chapel NYC on the Perfect T-Shirt →
The first time I met Patrick Matamoros, we decided to drive to Malibu – to John Frusciante’s house – to shoot a wet t-shirt contest fashion editorial with some of his incredible vintage tees. He had just come in from New York where he would sell his tees either on the street or in pop up shops throughout the city – and often got arrested for not having a merchant’s license. There were original Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm Mclaren seditionary tees with Minnie Mouse getting fucked by Mickey, and Snow White getting gang banged by the Seven Dwarves. Click here to read the full interview and click here to shop for some Chapel NYC's vintage tees now available on Autre.
Yasmin Eslami Collab with Kaori Ed
Japanese artist Kaori Ed wife and muse of photographer Araki is also a talented actress and illustrator. She has has teamed up with Yasmin Eslami with an illustration of cats embroidered on a her new line of lingerie.
Vivienne Westwood Shoes at the Sursock Palace in Beirut