This costume, titled Orbit Tutu, is one of 42 used in the Arrivals segment of the Olympic Opening Ceremony held on September 15, 2000. The costume was part of the Europe float and was designed by Norma Moriceau. It was inspired by the science of astronomy. It was made at the Olympic Ceremonies Costume Department at Redfern, NSW. In the performance it was worn by a female student of the Newtown Performing Arts High School, Sydney.

The Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games was comprised of three major sections: the mandatory formalities and protocol sections, the cultural display and the entrance of the athletes. Within the cultural display, there were eight segments titled: Welcome, Deep Sea Dreaming, Awakening, Fire, Nature, Tin Symphony, Arrivals and Eternity.

This costume was used in the Arrivals segment of the Opening Ceremony. This segment aimed to produce a theatrical representation of Australia's multiculturalism. The programme for the Olympic Opening Ceremony states: The history of Australia is the history of migration. We have come from all corners of the planet to form a vibrant, culturally rich and constantly evolving society. In this segment, a new group of arrivals form the Olympic symbol that unites the five continents of the world. They disperse, leaving behind their children - our hope for the future. More children appear until two thousand gather to form the pattern of the night sky, containing the distinctive Southern Cross constellation. From the centre of the structure Nikki Webster performs "Under Southern Skies' to celebrate the unity of all our people.

There were five floats in the Arrivals segment. Each float represented a continent of the world. Using the symbolism of the colours of Olympic rings, each continent/float was represented by a colour. Black was used to represent the African nations, yellow the Asian nations, red the Americas, green was used for Europe and blue for Oceania, which includes Australia.

Fashion and film designers rather than theatrical designers were chosen to provide a contemporary, cutting edge, high fashion look to the costumes. The designers were Jenny Kee - Africa and Americas, Lisa Ho - Asia, Norma Moriceau - Europe and Peter Morrissey - Oceania. Norma Moriceau, the designer of this costume, is one of Australia's most awarded and prolific film costume and production designers.

Performers were selected from schools, community groups and from cultural and ethnic support groups. Approximately 500 performers danced around and on each of the five floats in the costumes created by the designers.

The approach to the Europe float in the initial brief was to use the artistic, musical and scientific achievements of Europe as basic themes for the costumes.

The Orbit Tutu costume consists of a 4 layered hoop skirt in nylon lycra. This is one of 42 Orbit Tutu costumes made to be worn by students of the Newtown Performing Arts High School.

Norma Moriceau is one of Australia's most awarded and prolific film costume and production designers. Her credits include Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee and Babe Pig in the City. She has won three AFI awards for Best Costume Design for Newsfront (1978), Fatty Finn (1980) and Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior (1981). In addition to this, she has received two AFI nominations for her costume designs for Street Hero (1984) and The Chain Reaction (1980).

Her bold signature style often incorporates the use of tribal symbolism and off beat surrealism using found objects. She was assisted in the realisation of the costumes for the Europe float by another Australian production and costume designer, Lisa Meagher.

The initial design brief of the Europe float was to use the artistic, musical and scientific achievements of Europe as basic themes for the costumes. Norma added touches of pink, fluorescent yellow and metallic gold to the base palette of green to give added depth and vibrancy to the costumes.

The makeup design was an integral part of the overall look of the costume. The wearer of the costume was made up to have a white face with a green glitter 'mask' painted over the eyes.

The Orbit Tutu is inspired by the science of astronomy and by the movement of the planets. Touches of pink, orange and aqua have been added as a trim on the edge of the rings.

Maker name Ceremonies Costume Department

One of forty-two Orbit tutus worn by female students of the Newtown Performing Arts High School, Sydney.

Presented to the Powerhouse Museum by the Olympic Coordination Authority, on behalf of the NSW Government

Performance costume, 'Orbit Tutu', fabric/fibreglass/metal/polystyrene, designed by Norma Moriceau, made by Ceremonies Costume Department, used in Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games, Sydney, 2000

Consists of a tutu, a pair of bike shorts and a belt. The tutu consists of four skirts made from different shades of green nylon lycra. Fibreglass hoops have been sewn into the hemline of each skirt to hold each layer of the skirt out. The bike shorts are made from green nylon lycra and the belt consists of a wide strip of elastic covered with pink nylon fabric.

Made: 2000

2001/84/188

2000