Puss in Boots, ballerina in breeches

Abstract

Costume and its contribution to a stage production is still a less frequently researched field in theatre studies. Yet it plays an important role in the performance of a role in both theatre and stage dance. Using the fairy-tale character of Puss in Boots in the ballet Die goldene Märchenwelt (first performed in Vienna, 1893), which is very well-known not only in the German-speaking world, the extent to which the recognizability of the character is supported by the costume is examined in this article. Costume designer Franz Gaul (1837–1906) was inspired not only by the various fairy-tale versions, but also by a large number of illustrations and stage adaptations. The source for the costume analysis here is a series of photographs of the dancer Wilhelmine Rathner (1863–1913) playing Puss in Boots archived at the Theatermuseum in Vienna. Through this medium a second level of investigation arises, namely that of the photographic (self-)staging of the desirable woman through costume and pose in a complicated interplay of textures and distances. This staging gains another – potentially eroticizing – level through the conception of the role of Puss in Boots as a breeches role.