Archive for costume
July 28, 2008 at 5:13 pm · Filed under dance, candice thompson, CANDICE, costume design, costume
Recently, I have been working on some ivory long unitards for Morphoses. I am not the costume designer, I am just assisting in putting some of the construction together as there is not a formal costume shop. So what I mean to say is, they will be more than just ivory unitards. This is just the base from which the costume will be built on.
But looking at yards and yards of beautiful ivory fabric on my cutting table got me to thinking about the ambivalent nature of the relationship us dancers have with this seemingly simple material. Ballet in general, is white. There are the “white” ballets. Often white is the first color of leotard any child is required to wear. Princes must wear white tights! We should be so used to it and so comfortable with our signature color…….so why does it often inspire such dread?
Obviously, there are the issues of body and presentation. The fear it will make us look bigger. But white, while unforgiving, can be slimming in its own simplicity of so clearly showing line and definition. How do you feel about wearing it? Are you one of those dancers who is more comfortable in nude than white? If you have been wearing it forever, do you still sigh and think about it before putting on those white tights or that Apollo dress?
I would love to know and also set the record straight as I see it. Ballet uses white (and ivory) often for a reason: it looks beautiful onstage and in general, really does flatter all. So embrace it if you get the chance!
Recent Posts by candice thompson
May 25, 2008 at 10:21 pm · Filed under dance, new york, costume, JUSTIN, roof
The roof of the New York State Theatre offers an ideal setting for photography. It consists of a wide open space with some of New York’s most vivid architecture as the background. So I thought to myself, why not take advantage of the great Spring weather and capture some dance shots up there? Thus begins a new photography series, titled “Rooftop Glimpse” of various polaroid shots during matinees at the State Theatre.
Today we performed Balanchine’s Jewels. Hopefully I will be able to turn this into a weekly post, so long as the weather cooperates. Enjoy
Me.
Anthony Huxley.
Diamonds
Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Recent Posts by justin
December 3, 2007 at 10:56 pm · Filed under backstage, dance, new york city ballet, makeup, Nutcracker, costume, JUSTIN, mother ginger
I would have never imagined that I would be earning a salary by parading around stage in full drag make-up with 8 kids hidden underneath my oversized woman’s dress. But hey, anything is possible.
It turns out that this Nutcracker season at the New York City Ballet, I have been cast to perform the role of Mother Ginger. Here are the bizarre and unusual circumstances that involve playing the part, with photos shot by the beautiful, talented, and air-biting Gwyneth Muller:
Step 1: 40 minutes of make-up.
Each show I have to head down to the make-up room to get my gorgeous “face” painted on by make-up guru Michael Avedon (the head of the make-up department at NYCB who has a gift for the art of make-up application). This involves a heavy caked-on layer of foundation, painfully intricate eye lining and shadowing, and layers upon layers of outrageous fake eyelashes (step-by-step pictures of the process are shown below). I find getting my make-up done by another person to be unexpectedly therapeutic. However, I definitely don’t enjoy the added weight and discomfort of having fake eyelashes prodded and pasted onto my eyelids. Once the make-up is completed, I have my wig+bonnet strapped on before heading down for stilt application…
Shots of the Process:
Me, petrified of the make-up extremities to come
An ace bandage is tied around my head to cover up my hairline and for eye brow application
thick layer of base. My eyebrows have to be covered with bee’s wax and then painted tan in order to hide them
LASHES
The raised eyebrows
Final Product
Step 2: Stilts
The stilts are actually a fun perk of performing ‘Mama G.’ They give me an added 2 feet on top of my 6’1” body height, making me feel at home with the likes of Yao Ming, Lebron James, and Shaquille Oneal. The stilts themselves are actually more like metal platforms, and are surprisingly easy to walk on. I always do a warm up lap on my stilts around the backstage area, as sort of a good-luck routine, before heading over to the wings to watch a bit of the second act. I’ll just put it this way: no one standing in front of me in the wings will EVER obstruct the views of an 8’1” super-giant.
Step 3: Dress (I feel pretty)
I’m not quite sure how heavy the dress is, but it feels like its around 50 pounds. Its strapped onto my shoulders and upper torso using a harness, and sits at hip level. There is a top that goes on separately, and gives me the appearance of having a ‘D’ cup bra size (Sexy, eh?). There are all kinds of fun props attached to the dress to play with on stage, which include a tambourine, a mirror, a powder puff, and a fan.
Step 4: Oh, kids these days……
So there are 8 little girls that travel with me under my dress, as I attempt to maneuver the 50 pound, 9 foot long dress around the stage—all while on stilts. I’m always cautious of stepping on the kids, being as I have no way of seeing where they are under my dress, but the occasional child-squashing does occur (don’t worry though, no severe injuries to date).
Step 5: Choreography
NYCB is surprisingly relaxed about what sort of choreography one does on stage for the part of Mother Ginger. What they do is give some general guidance regarding cues and placement in relation to the music. All of the time in between, though, must be filled with one’s own creativity and imagination. Therefore, I am attempting to throw in new por de bra choreography for each performance, based on a new famous ballet each time. So far, I have incorporated the likes of Ballo Della Regina, Serenade, and Tombeau De Couperin (all Balanchine ballets). More to come soon!
So there you have it. A day in the life of an 8-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide, extremely fertile (8 kids! Ah!) drag queen. If anyone is interested in catching a performance of my Mama G, the days I am performing the part are listed in the casting section of NYCBallet.com.
Recent Posts by justin
November 6, 2007 at 5:03 am · Filed under dance, class, writing, dancewebsites, dancebloggers, costume, schoool, TAYLOR, communications
Hey everyone,
Wow, midterms and rehearsals have had me going crazy lately! Things are calming down a bit for the moment, but I have lots to share!
To start, I just HAD to post these pictures from our Halloween class. Every Halloween I can remember I’ve been in class or rehearsal, and we always dress up and attempt to have a serious class — but it always ends up being somewhat less than the normal plies and pirouettes and more of a blast of fun! This year was particularly amusing…I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and 2 of my friends were the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. I made a yellow brick road and actually danced on it at barre! What fun 
(note the yellow brick road haha)
Next order of business: The November issue of our college paper, The Monitor (where I’m the Features Editor), is now online. Lots of work went into it…click and go to pages 10-11 for my two articles. One is a set of interviews I did with student choreographers in the Dance Department preparing for a show next week. It was so interesting to hear their processes of working together with other students. Extended interviews here.
Also of note is that I’m starting to crack down and write my senior thesis. As I might have mentioned, our assignment as Communication Arts majors is to consider some aspect of new media and relate it to how it’s changing society.
Being the ballet dork that I am, I am focusing on dance journalism/criticism/discourse and the effect that the internet is having on it - basically the shift that’s going on from print to online dance writing (this website, The Winger, as an example!).
I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts about this and how you think blogs, etc are changing the scope of communication about dance. Below is part of my proposal for my thesis - just a basic outline. Any comments or input would be greatly appreciated!—
Dance Journalism and Criticism in New Media
For my paper I would like to explore the changes that the internet and new media are bringing to arts journalism, specifically dance criticism. With the invention of online communities, blogs, and social networks, the journalism and publishing industries have seen significant changes in recent years. I want to investigate these changes and see how they are leading us to the future of arts journalism.
Being passionate about both dance and writing, this topic has intrigued me for some time now. The culture of the dance world is extremely unique and the way this community fits in and interacts with the larger world has proven to be a special relationship. Concert dance is far removed from mainstream culture and the art form has always struggled to find a place in popular media. I personally want to find a way to integrate this sector of society and raise awareness of what’s going on in the dance world by communicating with the mainstream. In a culture that thrives on celebrity pitfalls like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton it seems as though true art is far underappreciated.
With that being said, the most powerful method of communication about dance, besides movement, has been in print media. Newspapers traditionally provide entertainment listings where dance performances are given brief blurbs of details and ticket information. Only the country’s largest papers allot space to dance criticism, and as a result only few dance companies are represented in the press.
The more important issue is that in recent years there has been a severe cutback in print space given to dance coverage. Magazines, such as New York Magazine, have completely eliminated the position of Chief Dance Critic and run stories on dance very rarely. Newspapers have also seen a shortage of staff on this beat. The New York Times, which is the largest print outlet serving the dance community, has cut space for dance in the popular Arts section in recent years.
Another major issue with dance journalism is the shift in dance magazines, with the merging of all titles into Macfadden Performing Arts Media in 2006.
What seems to have risen as a solution to these two major issues of coverage cutbacks and media convergence is dance criticism online. A number of message boards have been in existence for years, allowing dance enthusiasts and balletomanes to express their opinions on the goings-on of the performing world. But only recently have blogs begun to pop up that provide more in-depth coverage of performances, news, and general issues relating to dance. These sites allow a bigger variety of perspectives to be exposed and are not limited to the restrictions of time and space as print outlets are.
The internet has allowed for a beneficial increase in dance writing and has allowed for a close connection to be developed among the community. There is now an outlet for public discourse around the art form that would be nearly impossible to have without new media. Especially with the New York Times rumors of eventually going out of print and being solely online, this could be the future of arts journalism and potentially publishing as a whole.
Recent Posts by taylor gordon
July 7, 2007 at 2:42 am · Filed under SLOAN, dance, saratoga, costume, iphone, romeo+juliet
Posted by Sloan | via mobile phone
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
June 12, 2007 at 2:35 pm · Filed under backstage, student, CATHY, brazil, costume
This is me a few minutes before getting on stage to dance Marzipan (or dance of the flutes) once again. It was some sort of dance festival but it wasn’t a competition. I was dancing as a soloist in this one for the first time (some students left ballet, so we had to make some changes and I ended up being soloist by myself, as before we were three.)
We also danced the Waltz of the Flowers, which was changed a little bit also.
Overall, it was good but the place wasn’t the best nor was its organization. But I guess it’s part of a dancer’s life to perform in the most different venues, etc… They had problems with the sound and the ‘’stage'’ was in a basketball court.
But it counts as stage experience - we always gain more maturity the more we perform!
Now next week I’ll perform the Blue Bird variation and Kitri’s 3rd act variation! I’m so excited! It’s not very very good yet, so I have yet to rehearse a lot. It’s funny because they are quite different in terms of the character and such. But both are fun, I love it!
Well I’ll be back soon!
Bye bye,
Cathy Godeghesi
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
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