I didn’t want to cling too literally to the conventions of chess and have the pawns be the weakest character with limited movement. I used the analogy as a springboard and elaborated, giving each character his or her own strengths on the field of battle. I imagined the pawns’ strong point to be speed, much like the small fighter planes that would escort the heftier and less wieldy bombers. They would also be used for scouting and reconnaissance missions.

The look of the costume had several sources:

—The plume idea came from the fetish costumes I’d seen as well as traditional ornamentation on warrior’s helmets.

—The unitard—with its sewn-in hood, sleeves and gloves had a sleekness to it that I hoped would convey the pawns’ capacity for speed, suggestive of the outfit you see at the Olympics in the luge competitions. To further suggest speed, I would have liked a glossy sheen, too, even more than the lycra provided, but we couldn’t locate such a fabric. Patent leather, and the fabrics that looked something like it, wouldn’t stretch enough and of course we couldn’t actually use latex: a dancer would overheat and dehydrate.

—In keeping with the speed idea, I gave them two smaller, lighter swords rather than one heavier weapon.

This drew from two different sources: the sword itself was styled after the Roman short sword. It also makes a reference to the Chinese “Butterfly swords” which fit together as one and slide into a single scabbard, though this idea of sheathing them together was something I didn’t follow through with . . .

—Drawing the sword from over the shoulder always looked impressive to me. Plus, without a scabbard swinging off one’s hip, it was a lot easier to move. So I mounted the scabbards on the back using an X-shaped arrangement rather than a single sheath.

As a design element I found it visually striking, as I did the swords when held in each hand: it lengthened the line of the arm and created more possibilities for shapes and crossings.