📚 Infra — 6d.5
Costume
Designed by Moritz Junge · What they wear · What it means · How to interpret it
📚 What you'll learn on this page
- Accurately describe the costume design for Infra
- Link the costumes to the stimulus and choreographic intent
- Explore multiple valid interpretations of what the costumes suggest
- Understand why the two stand-out costumes matter for exam questions
6d.5.1 Description & Key Facts
Costume Designer: Moritz Junge
The costume palette uses flesh, black, white and grey — a monotone range. The fabrics are stretchy and form-fitting. The costumes are meant to look like everyday, private clothing — not theatrical or glamorous.
🎬 Watch first — spot each costume as you read below
As you watch, look for: the white t-shirts and dark shorts on most male dancers · the bare-torso male in black trousers · the female dancer in a white crop top and grey wrap skirt · the crowd figures in outdoor coats and heels.
Key costume facts to learn
Material
Stretchy fabrics — sculpt and show the body. Easy to move in.
Stretchy fabrics — sculpt and show the body. Easy to move in.
Palette
Black, white, grey and flesh tones. No bright colours. Monotone throughout.
Black, white, grey and flesh tones. No bright colours. Monotone throughout.
Female shoes
Pointe shoes — to elongate the leg line and add sharp dynamics. Not for traditional ballet steps.
Pointe shoes — to elongate the leg line and add sharp dynamics. Not for traditional ballet steps.
Male shoes
Flesh-coloured ballet shoes. Low-profile — designed not to distract.
Flesh-coloured ballet shoes. Low-profile — designed not to distract.
The key visual contrast — above vs below:
LED figures above — OUTDOOR clothing
Overcoats, briefcases, pencil skirts, heels. Public-facing. What people show the world.
vs
Dancers below — PRIVATE clothing
Fitted shorts, vests, bare skin. Indoor, casual, intimate. What lies beneath the surface.
Examiner's Eye — name the two stand-out costumes
If a costume question comes up, always mention the long-trousers male (who has the powerful solo) and the wrap-skirt female (who collapses in the crowd). These are the only two characters whose costumes mark them as different — and both have the biggest solo moments in the piece. The costume design is telling you they matter.
6d.5.2 DLIE Appreciation Panel
Three sections below, each with D and L facts already provided. Tap any I or E card to see a model response. Then write your own at the bottom of each section.
A
The monotone colour palette
Black · white · grey · flesh — no colour at all
▾
D
Describe
The costumes use fitted shorts, vests and t-shirts in a mix of flesh, black, white and grey — spread across the cast rather than all being one colour. The fabrics are stretchy and body-sculpting. Female dancers wear pointe shoes; male dancers wear flesh-coloured ballet shoes.L
Link
The monotone palette directly matches the colour world of the Julian Opie LED screen above — which also uses only black, white and grey. This links the dancers visually to the digital figures, connecting the world below the surface to the city above it. It also reflects McGregor's intent of the everyday and pedestrian — these are not theatrical costumes, they are private, indoor, human clothes.💜 Interpret — tap to reveal three options:
Option AThe dull colours could suggest the hidden, underground world…›
This could suggest the dark, underground world of the city — grimy, earthy, below the surface. Black, white and grey are the colours of concrete and shadow. In my opinion, wearing these colours makes the dancers look like they belong to the city's hidden interior.
Option BThe lack of colour could suggest vulnerability and exposure…›
This could suggest that the dancers are stripped down to their most basic selves — not dressed to impress, just existing. Like underwear or private indoor clothing, the sparse palette makes the dancers feel exposed and vulnerable, as if the audience is seeing something they were not supposed to see.
Option CThe grey and black could suggest grief or mourning…›
This could suggest loss, grief or sadness — connecting directly to the London bombings stimulus. Black and grey are colours of mourning. The entire palette is dressed in the colours of tragedy, even if the movement does not make this explicit. McGregor is letting the costume carry the emotional context.
✅ Evaluate — tap to reveal:
Option AThe monotone palette is effective because it lets the movement do the work…›
This is effective because by stripping colour from the costumes, Moritz Junge ensures that the audience focuses on the bodies themselves — the shapes, the contact, the emotions. Nothing distracts. The simplicity of the costume design is what makes the complexity of the choreography so visible.
Option BThe visual match between dancers and LED figures impacts the audience because…›
This is effective because when the audience looks at the stage, the live dancers and the digital figures above them exist in the same visual world — same palette, same tones. This makes the contrast between their emotional reality (below) and the emotionless surface (above) feel both connected and unbridgeable at the same time.
B
The private, everyday quality of the clothes
Casual · indoor · like private clothing — not performance wear
▾
D
Describe
The costumes resemble everyday casual wear — fitted vests, shorts, t-shirts in neutral tones. They look more like what people might wear at home than what you would see in a conventional ballet. The AQA fact file calls them "casual everyday clothes" though they function more like private, indoor clothing — like underwear worn underneath the public-facing outdoor clothes of the LED figures.L
Link
This directly supports McGregor's choreographic intent of showing "what lies below the surface." The LED figures above the stage wear outdoor clothes — public, formal, emotionless. The dancers below wear private, casual, human clothing. The costume design makes the idea of "infra" (below) physically visible the moment the audience looks at the stage.💜 Interpret — tap to reveal three options:
Option AThe casual clothing could suggest we are seeing people at their most private…›
This could suggest we are watching people in their private lives — not dressed for the world, just existing as themselves. Like looking through someone's window when they don't know anyone is watching. The audience are voyeurs, and the casual clothes make that intimacy feel real rather than theatrical.
Option BThe contrast between dancer clothes and LED clothes could represent public vs private self…›
In my opinion, this is the clearest way the costume design communicates the intent. Above: outdoor clothes = the public face we show the world. Below: fitted private wear = who we actually are. McGregor has dressed his entire concept in the costume design itself. You don't even need to watch the movement — the costumes already tell the story.
Option CThe shared basic clothing could suggest a sense of community…›
This could suggest that underneath the differences of public life, people are fundamentally the same. They all wear similar, basic things. Like a city — full of individuals, but all going about the same basic human business. The slight variations (one skirt, one pair of trousers) suggest individuality within shared humanity.
✅ Evaluate — tap to reveal:
Option AThe private-clothing choice is effective because it makes the audience feel like they shouldn't be watching…›
This is effective because it creates an uncomfortable sense of voyeurism — the audience feels like they are intruding on something private. This is exactly the feeling McGregor wants to provoke. Seeing someone's grief or intimacy in a city is always slightly uncomfortable because we know we were not supposed to see it.
Option BThe above/below contrast in costume is effective because…›
This is effective because the costume design reinforces the intent without anyone having to explain it. The audience sees it immediately — outdoor above, private below — and understands the entire concept of the piece before the dancing has even begun. Good design makes the idea visible, and this does exactly that.
C
The two stand-out costumes ★
Long trousers (solo male) · Wrap skirt (collapse female)
▾
D
Describe
Two dancers are costumed differently from the rest. One male dancer wears long black trousers with no top — while all other male dancers wear shorts and vests. One female dancer wears a white crop top and a grey wrap-around skirt with a side split — while all other female dancers wear shorts and vests. These two are the only ones who stand out visually from the group.L
Link
These two dancers have the most significant solo moments in the piece: the long-trousers male performs the powerful masculine solo in Section 6; the wrap-skirt female is the dancer who collapses in the crowd in Section 7b — the highlight of the whole piece. The costume design highlights the characters who carry the biggest emotional weight, even before those moments arrive.💜 Interpret — tap to reveal:
Option AThe different costumes could suggest these characters have a specific identity…›
This could suggest that these two people have a particular story or identity within the anonymous crowd. While everyone else blends together, the skirt and the trousers mark someone out — like a person in a city who catches your eye for a reason you can't quite name. Their difference draws your attention before their solos even begin.
Option BThe man's bare torso could suggest raw, exposed emotion…›
In my opinion, removing the male dancer's top makes his body more exposed and powerful at the same time — it suggests vulnerability beneath strength. His muscular solo, performed bare-chested, links the orange masculine energy of his solo to a feeling of something fierce and private breaking through the surface.
✅ Evaluate — tap to reveal:
Option AMarking the key characters through costume is effective because…›
This is effective because the audience begins to identify these two characters before they need to — the eye is drawn to them naturally, so when their big moments arrive, there is already a sense of recognition and investment. The costume design is doing quiet narrative work throughout the whole piece, not just in a single moment.
6d.5.3 💜 What does the costume make you think of?
💜 What does the costume make you think of?
Before you knew anything about the intent, you might have had a first reaction to how the dancers are dressed. Think honestly about that.
Prompt 1 — First reactionThe dancers wear plain, minimal clothes in dull tones. Does this feel boring to you, or does it feel real? Is there a difference between "boring" and "ordinary on purpose"?
Prompt 2 — The private/public ideaDo you ever dress differently for different situations — something you wear at home versus something you wear in public? How does that connect to what you see on stage?
Prompt 3 — The stand-out costumesDid you notice the long trousers and the skirt when you watched the piece? Did those two people catch your eye before their big moments? Why or why not?
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6d.5.4 💜 Could the costume be interpreted in more than one way?
💜 The costume means different things to different people
Good costume design is open — it gives the audience something to read but doesn't force a single answer. The Infra costumes are a good example of this. Here are four valid but different readings of the same costume:
Reading 1 — Underground
The dark, grimy palette represents the underground — literal tunnels and shadows. Infra means below, and the dark clothes place us there.
Reading 2 — Grief
Black and grey are colours of mourning. The whole cast is dressed in the palette of loss — a quiet, constant reference to the London bombings that runs throughout the piece.
Reading 3 — Private self
These are indoor clothes — what you wear when no one is watching. The audience is seeing people's real selves, stripped of the public-facing outer layer.
Reading 4 — City community
Everyone wears broadly the same thing — like a city where people dress similarly (black, grey, dark) because that is the urban norm. Individual but uniform; together but separate.
Your interpretationWhich of the four readings above feels most true to you when you watch the work? Or does your reading combine more than one of them? Write your own interpretation of the Infra costumes.
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📌 Costume in 5 points
DesignerMoritz Junge designed all costumes for Infra.
PaletteEntirely monotone — black, white, grey and flesh. No colour.
StyleFitted, stretchy, casual — like private indoor clothing, not theatrical costume.
Key contrastDancers below wear private clothes; LED figures above wear public outdoor clothes. Above vs below made visible.
Two stand-outsLong-trousers male = solo. Wrap-skirt female = collapse in crowd. Costume marks the key characters.
Pointe shoesWorn by female dancers to elongate the leg line and sharpen dynamics — not for traditional ballet steps.
✍️ Revision Check — 6d.5
8 questions on costume. Answer all then submit.
1. Who designed the costumes for Infra?
2. What is the overall colour palette of the Infra costumes?
3. Why do the female dancers wear pointe shoes in Infra?
4. What do the LED figures above the stage wear — and how does this contrast with the dancers?
5. Which dancer wears long black trousers and no top — and why does it matter?
6. Which of these is an INTERPRET (I) point about the Infra costumes?
7. Which female dancer wears a wrap-around skirt — and what does she do in the piece?
8. How does the costume design support the title "Infra" (meaning below)?
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