Ten in Seven by Peter Walker with Costumes by Jason Wu | NYC Ballet

As a new choreographer, it's a great honor to be given a ballet for the Fall Fashion Gala. And then on top of it, you're working with a famous designer. So it's, you know, layer on layer of pressure. Like we're done before 2. It shouldn't be like 1, 2. It should just be 7, 8, 1, 2. You know? Just a little bit more fluid. I don't know much about fashion, but what attracted me to Jason was his use of patterns. Because it was very ready to wear, and it, to me, seemed like ready for a dance. Jason and Peter both have strong personalities, I would say. And the first meeting was very full of ideas, just bouncing back and forth. So I was thinking like a mixed lace direction. You know, like there's weight to this. I want like above the elbow sleeve. I would go more these shapes for you, for women. And shorter. Yeah, no gowns. Peter's very passionate about his work, and you know, I think he has a very modern perspective to ballet. So it was really fun to bounce ideas off him. I felt like we represented both of us within the costumes. So I feel like we need an element that separates us from the other three. Agreed. From the beginning, I had an idea of how attentive he was to his work, the same way that I feel about mine. And it was really cool to put what I thought out there, and then be able to step back. You know, he's a professional. This is what he does. Before my initial meeting with Peter, I was envisioning something more black and white. Because I saw that as being very appropriate for ballet. But Peter wanted to design a piece that was very modernist inspired. What if it's like black and white lace with neon lining color? That's cool. I'm into that. Neon orange, neon pink. So I took that concept and I suggested these bright neon colors. It's cool with the lace over top, because then it's not too, like, in your face. Oh, that's cool. I love that. Yeah. I like the idea of using a delicate, classic material such as lace, and then injecting the colors. So that there is something old and something new. And just like what he's doing with the dance, that ballet is a traditional form of dance. And that he has managed to inject a new attitude. Collaborations like this are great because it can really push a choreographer to kind of think differently about their ballet. The cool thing about collaboration is that you're able to work off of other people's ideas. Once we got the color scheme, it was so clear to me that this movement would be these colors, and this movement would be these colors. And I think having those specific color swatches from the beginning took my choreography in a direction that I hadn't originally intended. No higher than 90 with this top leg. I love applying my design aesthetics to a form of art that I'm not as familiar with. You know, you really get a different point of view to your own work.