My New Design Website
My costume design website is up and running. There are a couple of shows from some years ago that I am missing photos for, but other than that, I think my professional work is all there. Enjoy!
http://candicethompsondesign.com
Laura Peterson Choreography in Forever.
Spring has sprung, Sun still needed
We did our LOLAline Spring photo shoot in Emery LeCrone’s rehearsal of a new ballet for Columbia Ballet Collaborative. The dancers featured are Nicole Cerutti, Alexandra Ignatius, Victoria North, Erin Arbuckle and Jen Barrer-Gall. Photos by Steven Schreiber.
Emery thinks through a phrase she is about to teach in a Jade Shrug Off.
It was so much fun to be in Streng Studio at Barnard, being a fly on the wall in their rehearsal process.
Emery explains how best to get into the next move.
Nicole, Alex and Jen go for it! (Nicole is in the new Lemon Sheer Power)
The phrase they were working on was contemporary but definitely utilized all of their beautiful classical technique.
And hyper-extended elbow moments which I personally love!
And yes, those ballerinas will be doing floor work. Alex, takes the moment of relaxation to work the Lemon cap sleeve Sputnik 2.
Stephanie Wolf, LOLAstretch New Media Intern, and I look on.
The choreographer’s world.
I love how Steven catches Jen in this moment, giving turnout in a flurry of movement. She is in the newly brought back to life Sport Slender. (which we have not made in a few years now.)
And I think this one is my favorite! Classic beautiful rehearsal shot. Thanks Steven!
Time to go in groups with your like-minded leotard friend. Nicole and Erin in unison.
Emery and Victoria work through a solo Emery has made for her.
It was such a great way to spend a couple hours and I couldn’t be more thankful to Emery and the dancers for letting us in to their behind-the-scenes world. (and looking so great in my new line all the while)
Now if only they could just manufacture the sun for us New Yorkers with all of their beautiful radiance…..
Enjoy!
Candice
Find Love with the Paris Opera Ballet and Dr. Fisher
Join me on Monday night for just that: the Guggenheim Works and Process presents EMOTION & MOTION With dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet and Dr. Helen Fisher. I will be tweeting this event live at 7:30p from @lolastretch and @worksandprocess.
I will take you, 140 characters at a time, through the lecture and performance as Clairemarie Osta and Mathieu Ganio, ?toile dancers from the internationally acclaimed Paris Opera Ballet, will interpret various stages of love through dance, with discussion on brain systems that evolved for reproduction: lust, romantic love, and attachment by renowned anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love and Why Him? Why Her?.
Interspersed between excerpts from Giselle, Emeralds and Caligula, Dr. Helen Fisher explores the connections between the dances and lust, romantic love and attachment. Today’s NY Times also references Dr. Fisher in an article about the business of finding love.
Happy Valentine’s Day! and hope to interact with you all on Monday night via twitter feeds!
xo
Candice
Is Dance Democratic? The Art of Teaching, Part Deux
“Is dance democratic?” A question raised near the end of the Guggenheim’s Works and Process program on Sunday night, The Art of Teaching: Participation and Perception. I am so grateful to Tony’s previous post for presenting the material so clearly and expanding on some of the inherent problems of the specificity of ballet and each line of questioning that was raised. I too, found the lecture highly stimulating.
Damian Woetzel, former NYCB star and recent appointee to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, brought up and answered the above question by maintaining that dance can be democratic in enjoyment and appreciation; it being an obvious fact that there is a technical gulf that often puts professional dance, and all highly technical art forms, on an unattainable pedestal, and therefore can restrict participation in the most literal sense. Michael Sandel, his co-conspirator onstage and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard, had a different answer. He allowed that we need not be queasy about whether dance as an art form is inherently democratic because it has (or hopefully has) resonance. And resonance, can be a two way street for performers and audience members; much like his question and answer discussion on justice which he led earlier in the evening about disparity of wealth and compensation strived to be. Much like the relationship between teacher and student in the classroom. (Now we have come full circle to our title.)
Why is the idea of resonance important to me? Why does it matter if dance or art is democratic in and of itself or just fosters democracy? How does that relate to issues of justice and equality, whether in matters of money compensation or status in our world?
There are so many answers, or maybe just more questions, but I took away this circular reasoning: in order to maintain the ideals of equality and freedoms of speech and therefore, art, that our democracy is seeking to provide and as citizens we claim to want, we have to make sure we maintain the very institution that provides it. And in order to try to maintain any sort of democracy, utopian or our current grasping-at-straws version, the participation of the whole community is really necessary. And artists of all disciplines, dancing and teaching artists included, can have an impact by creating a shared experience via their art for a community of people to participate in, either literally or by enjoyment and appreciation. Participating begets participating. I can channel this idea even more easily by thinking of the inverse: that tyrannies are allowed to exist when people lack community and shared experiences, resulting in feelings of fear and isolation that further perpetuate that negative cycle. Even seeing or experiencing art that is depressing or upsetting, is somehow still a beacon of light; if only to remind you that you are not alone, that you are surrounded by community and someone out there understands moments of darkness too.
Sandel also brought up the idea that our sense of justice in regards to compensation is just a reflection of our values as a community (what we are willing to pay for and how much) and so if we truly wanted to fight for equality in our society, it would theoretically just be a matter of righting who and what we value. Just! I know it sounds overly simplistic. But it was a really inspiring moment for me because I realized that the righting of values and therefore our reflection of those values in our society, begins in the classroom, in museums, in studios, in concert halls and opera houses. Ultimately, it is just about coming together to have a shared experience of other and each other.
As our nation, and in particular New York City, struggles with the ever widening gap between rich and poor, I found this lecture to be timely and profound. Ultimately art and teaching and the art of teaching is about learning and experience and hopefully, reciprocation between teacher and student, artist and audience. And the resonance that extends beyond that participation and/or perception is what brings us to the shared experience and sense of community; two of the greatest examples of the evening being the opening of the lecture with the audience joining together to do the opening phrase of Serenade and the closing of the lecture with the finale of Dances At a Gathering. I got chills, even as I was guest tweeting it love for the Guggenheim and for my own twitter feed.
Now more than ever, I want to go to bed at night thinking my community is not a corporation, but rather a collection of individuals (who are also not corporations!) coming together every now and then to participate in the intellectual and creative life that a healthy democracy and our treasured freedoms require.
{Pictured: Tiler Peck, NYCB dancer, Damian Woetzel and Michael Sandel. Photos by Erin Baiano. Courtesy of Guggenheim, Museum Works and Process.)
Get Carried Away in 2010
That is my motto for the new year and new decade! I have been hard at work on a brand new project: launching LOLAline 2010 tomorrow at midnight!
And the best part is the sneak peak of outtakes from the most fun photoshoot I think we have done thus far……..and you guys are the first to see it! Enjoy!
Getting set up as the fangirl for the shoot.
“Lean into the wind” is what I think I am trying to say. Or just having a brief swan moment. Please excuse me, ladies.
First encounter with wind and flying hair.
Sorting through the fourth position, but Andrea’s hair is making it hard to focus.
The fan is your friend.
The fan is your best friend–recreating the backseat of a convertible on a chilly winter day.
Gales coming in from all directions.
Don’t you wish you had a fan during every allegro?
Voile!
Who needs a motorcycle when you can just put on pointes and pretend?
Laura doing an attitude turn in the clouds!
Andrea, Goddess of Asymmetry!
Photos by Steven Schreiber. Dancers Featured: Laura Feig and Andrea Spiridonakos of Morphoses.
LOLAline 2010 will consist of five carefully curated collections of dancewear in a bold hues beginning with WINTER and culminating in HOLIDAY, celebrating our signature styles and introducing New styles too. LOLAline will be available on our website and will take the place of our online custom ordering system.
LOLAline Winter will feature the styles above in those colors: Cosmo, Olive and Celery. Pre-Sale begins January 8th at midnight!
(T-24 hours to create a custom order online; in the future, email us at 
Happy New Year!
xo
Candice
The Diamondback
Nicole Cerutti rocks my newest LOLAstretch design in photos by Steven Schreiber. The Diamondback is up on the site now for custom ordering! and for your enjoyment– some of good shots and some of the fun shots:
This is a favorite pose of mine, “the track start”, and it seems to never get old for me.
I swear I am not the mad tyrant I appear to be, just expressing myself.
This will only take a minute…………
jazzerinas can enjoy it too!
Yes, this style is baseball inspired–little did I know Nicole’s dad was a professional baseball player!
I always want an inverted shot……….and they are fun, but always better in theory for showcasing the product. Alas! I still love it.
Check out our fan page for more!
JSB Costumes
A couple pics from dress rehearsal for James Sewell’s newest ballet “The Bad Plus Us”. It runs through Sunday at The O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul, MN. Wish I could be there……
The ladies leotards on my work table right before packing and shipping.
Of course, since I was working remotely, I am dying to know more about the saran wrap!
All The Rage
Lauren Toole, Madeline Deavenport and Elizabeth Brown in Constantine Baecher’s All the Rage. Photo by Kristin Lodoen Linger.
It premiered last night at New Chamber Ballet’s fall season opener and you can see it again tonight, along with 4 other short works by Miro Magloire, at 8pm at City Center Studio 4. New York Magazine said fall fashion was all about “wide shoulders and cinched waists” and these ladies are my kickoff to fashion week!
(You can see the sketch of this design in a previous post of mine)
Great NY Times review of Friday night too!
Help Wanted!
LOLAstretch has been as busy as ever and we are facing down a jam packed Fall with NEW styles, a couture calendar shoot with 12 models, limited-run dancer choice leos and a bigger leap into the wholesale market! Phew it is a lot to even say and there are two amazing young ladies that are and will be a huge part of making this all happen: Danielle Forrestal and Stephanie Wolf. Danielle, a freelance dancer/singer in NY, has just made the transition from Sales and Marketing Intern to a paid Sales Director position and Stephanie has just joined our team remotely from Minneapolis, where she dances for James Sewell Ballet, as our New Media Intern. She will be archiving all of our images, and working on interfacing new images and videos with our website and social networking sites. I am so happy to have them!!
But that is not all! We are still in need of some help for our small but growing venture. I am currently interviewing for two internship positions: LOLAstretch Business Intern and LOLAstretch Sales/Marketing Intern. Please pass the information along to any dancers in NY metro area whom you think might be interested in gaining a valuable real world work experience, in a fast-paced small business atmosphere, with school credit available and the chance of the position growing from internship into a part-time job. The descriptions of what we are looking for are below.
{LOLAstretch New Media Intern Stephanie Wolf in a Ballerina Project photo by Dane Shitagi}
LOLAstretch Business Intern
We are looking for one super organized, creative and highly motivated individual to work directly with owner Candice Thompson on all things pertaining to business development, operations and day-to-day book and record keeping, assistance and organization of all events and photoshoots. Knowledge of Quickbooks, Microsoft Word and Excel a plus but not necessary. Hours are flexible at our office in Williamsburg and remotely, preferably 8 hours per week, school credit and/or stipend available.
LOLAstretch Sales/Marketing Intern
We are looking for one enthusiastic and outgoing individual to assist Danielle Forrestal and Candice Thompson with our new wholesale accounts and our LOLAliaison program. Job will include creative research and brainstorming for events and photoshoots, basic admin and data entry, and interfacing with stores, liaisons and the dance media about new promotions and products. Knowledge of basic html, Microsoft Word and Excel a plus but not necessary. Hours are flexible, can work remotely, preferably 8 hours per week, school credit and/or stipend available.
Please email a cover letter telling us about yourself, along with a resume to:
Sketch for Constantine Baecher
Constantine Baecher will premiere a new trio for three ladies at the New Chamber Ballet shows, September 11th and 12th. It is a work that was inspired by banshees and reminds me a little of Crouching Tiger in its sleek sharp weight shifts. Below is a sketch of a potential design that would combine a seamed reverse chevron bodice with electric blue kimono sleeves and a short skirt.
