When you hear the name Coco Chanel, do you think of the trailblazing couturier and entrepreneur who reinvented womenswear for the 20th century and freed women from the prison of the corset? Or do you think of the Nazi collaborator and antisemite who spied for the Germans during the occupation of France and avoided prosecution thanks to her powerful friends? Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon opens at the Playhouse, QPAC on October 4. Credit: Shoccara Marcus This very duality inspired Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to create the ballet that is proving a blockbuster for Queensland Ballet and opens on October 4. “It’s not a fairytale, she’s not a good girl,” says Lopez Ochoa, during a lunch break from rehearsals at the Thomas Dixon Centre.
“What do we do to survive? Characters are more interesting because they are not so clearly good or bad. “It’s not up to me to judge my main character, I have to get under their skin and let the others have an opinion.” Two dancers play the character of Logo – the intriguing Chanel symbol that has multiple meanings.
Credit: Conrad Dy-Liacco Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon is a co-production that arrives in Brisbane following seasons at the Hong Kong Ballet and Atlanta Ballet. With the unexpected departure of new artistic director Leanne Benjamin after fewer than six months in the role, Queensland Ballet’s acting AD, Greg Horsman, is relieved to have a success on his hands. “People beyond.