The Set Designer: George Tsypin on storytelling through space and kinetic sculpture
By Eva Kahn
To reimagine modern architecture as a spectacle or event is the goal of George Tsypin, a world-renowned stage designer, sculptor, and architect, whose helming scenic and prop design for the world premiere of Stephen Mills’ GRIMM TALES later this month. He studied in both Moscow and New York City and is best known for his design of the opening ceremonies for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi and for the set of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, a Broadway musical that premiered in 2011. His former studio was located in 5Pointz, the infamous open-air graffiti mural in Long Island City, N.Y.
We talked with Tsypin about the process of translating Natalie Frank’s two-dimensional paintings into three-dimensional set designs, which will include colorful, animated images projected onto a large screen, helping to set the stage for the three dance works that comprise GRIMM TALES.
How did you become involved with GRIMM TALES?
Natalie Frank (visual artist) got in touch with me, and I have no idea how she got my name. I never saw her work before, and it’s very striking, and I felt that was interesting to deal with. I think my experience could be very useful because Natalie has never worked in theater before. Generally, I feel I’m very good at conceptualizing things and creating a visual concept of how to present the material.
What was your earliest impression of the Brothers Grimm stories?
When you read it as a child, you don’t quite get the brutal honesty of the work and the surreal, cruel quality of the writing. That was another inspiration to take on. Every little story is a masterpiece, and there’s no way to make it better.
How did you interpret Natalie’s use of dimensionality into the set design?
That was the problem. Because I have this architectural background, I love space, and I emphasize space. In order to stay true to her work, you have to present the work as is. She creates two-dimensional work, and theater is very three dimensional, and dance is very three dimensional. The best thing was to take her work, trust her work, and somehow find a way to present the work and to create chemistry between her paintings and whatever Stephen will be creating, which is a very three-dimensional dance on stage.
Have you changed your creative process to work in this crowded playing field?
Here I felt I had to pull back in terms of actual scenery and to do as little as possible. The flat nature of Natalie’s work doesn’t translate into dimensional things. That was my role — to find a way to tell the story without losing the heart of her work because the key to the work is to present what she does.
Can you describe the actual set you’re designing and what the idea is behind it?
To tell these complex stories in dance is already a huge challenge. I had to come up with a way to use her language to tell the story. Writing is a very fragile thing: you imagine the images as one thing, but when you actually try to show them on stage, it could very quickly become something gross and tasteless. Some elegant way to show these images had to be found, and basically, I felt I should just take the language of Natalie’s work and create these simple animations.
Her art is anti-narrative, so I asked her to redraw images many times. The goal was to create an image that was easily readable and very accessible to the audience. Some of the images are still preserved and very mysterious, and some are more clear, more instant. The audience has to be able to watch the dance and see the image on a big screen and immediately connect what’s happening on stage with that image.
What are the unique challenges that come with designing for dance?
This is only my third or fourth ballet. I like it. It’s a different animal. It requires more subtlety — you have to leave space for the dancers. You have to pull back, but still capture with much more minimal gestures. The music is abstract and then the dance is abstract, and then you as a visual artist have to work with that abstraction. In opera, it’s quite static. Here, everything is moving all the time, because the dancers are moving nonstop. So nothing can get in the way of this fluid, kinetic sculpture.
Do you have any last thoughts you would like to share?
I’m perfectly happy to help to create a great show, and I take great joy in that. I love collaboration. I’ve never done something like this exactly, where I’m helping another artist present her work. And that’s exactly why I wanted to do it because I’ve never done it before!
GRIMM TALES
WORLD PREMIERE
Commissioned by the Butler New Choreography Endowment
March 29–31
The Long Center
Tickets at balletaustin.org
CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN MILLS
INSPIRED BY THE ARTWORK OF NATALIE FRANK
MUSIC: Graham Reynolds
DRAWINGS: Natalie Frank
SCENIC/PROP DESIGN: George Tsypin
COSTUME DESIGN: Constance Hoffman
LIGHTING DESIGN: Tony Tucci
PROJECTION DESIGN: Howard Werner
STORY: Edward Carey
This production runs approximately 70 minutes without intermission
and is recommended for ages 10 and older.
#GrimmTalesATX
