Archive for creative arts studio
June 16, 2008 at 4:09 pm · Filed under dance, costumes, candice thompson, CANDICE, costume design, creative arts studio, LOLAstretch
To borrow a great phrase from my favorite and only tv show I have watched in the last few years, Project Runway. Tim Gunn would be proud if he only knew of the almost 70 costumes I designed and made over the last few weeks for eight different classes at the Creative Arts Studio for their annual showcase at Brooklyn Museum. Some were for my own ballet students, some were for other classes like Hip Hop.
It was insanely stressful but in the end the two shows this past Saturday and Sunday came off without a hitch and it was a successful end to the school year for the students and teachers, who all worked as hard and intensely as I did.
Here are some backstage photos I took on Sunday, letting you into the nerves and excitement that are present when kids are the stars of the event:
Two of my advanced students, Elizabeth and Olivia, getting ready to perform on pointe for the first time ever!
Another advanced student, Sean, getting her pointe shoes on. She has been injured and performed rather stoically and beautifully through the pain just as a professional would, which of course, had all of the teachers incredibly on edge.
My Ballet 2 students in their “Fall” costumes, showing me backstage that they were ready to perform. And perform they did, I saw some jetes I had never seen before in terms of height and felxibility!
A couple of Ballet 1 students, in butterfly leotards of mine with attached “wings”, went around giving tired teachers shoulder rubs. I got in that line quick!
More Ballet 1 butterflies waiting to go onstage, bubbling over with nervous energy on top of their usual high energy.
Miranda, of Ballet 2, waiting in line for the final bow at the end of the show.
A few of the hip hop students in nutcracker short unitards I made. The theme for the entire show was The Four Seasons. It was the end of the show and as you can see, the girl on the left is losing one of her gold stripes. One of the biggest goals of mine was to create costumes that could be worn by the students in their classes after the show. The parents spend a lot of money and it seems a shame to get only one wear. So pieces like the gold stripes were tacked on at the last minute for easy removal, and all of the skirts were separate from the leotards, which were all based on my LOLAstretch designs.
My advanced ballet had the final piece of the show to Vivaldi’s Summer. Here is a photo I took, like a proud parent, from the audience. The were in champagne chiffon empire-waisted dresses.
Congratulations to all of the students at CAS! You were beautiful!
xo
Candice
Recent Posts by candice thompson
June 18, 2007 at 4:53 pm · Filed under dance, brooklyn, students, candice thompson, CANDICE, costume design, creative arts studio, LOLAstretch
Posted by Candice Thompson
I feel like an overzealous grandma, but my students from Creative Arts Studio had a show this past Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum and I couldn’t wait to share some of the photos I took backstage with you all. The auditorium was full (about 400 people! quite an audience) and the dancers performed beautifully. Proud seems like an understatement of my feelings.
Here is Ballet 2:
Miranda, Lily,Becca and Jesse.
Miranda and Lily back to back. Love it!
Becca and Jesse sitting on the edge of the stage.
Ballet 3:
Lauren gets help from a mom with her shoe.
Charlotte gets her hair done by her older sister, Olivia.
Likewise with sisters Isabelle and Elizabeth. I felt so lucky to catch these sweet moments of assistance.
Ballet 4:
Mariel, Natasha, Emily and Sophie waiting to make their first entrance into the theatre.
Advanced Ballet:
Sophie, Catherine, Sarah, Olivia, Elizabeth, Anna, Danielle and Judy.
Elizabeth, Olivia, Sarah, Katin, Sean, Amanda, Julia and Danielle.
And yes, I did all of their costuming too, so all pictured here in various leotards and unitards by LOLAstretch, modified for the stage of course! They really looked and danced so beautifully–it was such a treat for me to be on the other side of things and to just truly enjoy and appreciate an inspired performance by a talented group of girls. Congrats Creative Arts!
Recent Posts by candice thompson
April 26, 2007 at 8:20 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, candice thompson, CANDICE, costume design, creative arts studio
Posted by Candice Thompson
Dear Wingers,
I have been meaning to introduce myself for two weeks now…….but I am sure I don’t need to explain what living in NYC is like. Life got in the way:-) and I am just now finding a few moments to breathe and reflect.
For those of you who don’t know me, or those of you who have not been in touch recently, I have been finding out a lot about life in the past year. A good friend of mine likes to say that I am in the “Curious George” phase of life. Everything I encounter seems like new and unknown territory. Maybe reinventing myself. I don’t have a lot of judgments, often just a lot of questions.
Photo by Steven Schreiber
I moved to NYC in the summer of 2005 after having spent 5 seasons with the Milwaukee Ballet. I was finding I was only inspired for the couple of contemporary reps a year there and that I was in need of a change if I was going to hold on to my commitment to the artform. So I found myself back in the big city, where I went to college (NYU), starting a new business and looking for a dance job that would mean something to me. Quite a tall order when I look back on it now. But coincidence was kind, and by the end of summer, a friend introduced me to the choreographer, Deborah Lohse. About two rehearsals in, I knew that I had found just the sort of work I had been searching for! It transformed me and altered my sense of time and space so that I was truly present in my body in a way I had never been before. (I will be exploring this idea in more detail as I go) And the website for LOLAstretch was almost ready to launch, so 2005 ended in the highest of spirits.
And like any New Yorker, a lot has come my way between ringing in 2006 and ringing in 2007. I saw the end of a seven-year relationship (don’t worry we are still close friends!), the development of a small choreographic project into a new ballet company, ad hoc Ballet, and gone through the ups and downs of a rapidly growing small business with my dancewear company, LOLAstretch. Most recently, I have begun teaching, costume design and ballet, at the Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn and have been totally overwhelmed by the wealth of the whole experience.
And so, it is my intention to take all of these things that I do and am involved in and pass on the most interesting parts to you (hopefully). Plus, I am a girl about town, going to see art in all its forms, and love passing on good information–a short list of sorts. The thing you will hear about most from me in the next couple of weeks is the debut of ad hoc Ballet at the Clark Theatre at Lincoln Center. The show is called The Lucy Poems and will be here so soon, May 11th and 12th, and I can’t wait!
Until next time…….it was great to meet you and I am so glad to be a part of this lovely collective of artists!
xoxo
Candice
PS I wanted to pass on an image that inspires the work I am doing now for ad hoc Ballet and just sort of sums up where I am in my life at this moment. It gets referred to often in a day. I thought it was such a beautiful and haunting photo that I promptly cut it out of Harper’s Magazine (the literary/political journal, not to be confused with Harper’s Bazaar!!) when I saw it in the Readings section. It is called Limbo 5, 2004 and was taken by Bianca Brunner.
Recent Posts by candice thompson
April 16, 2007 at 2:13 pm · Filed under ballet, welcome, brooklyn, fashion, wingers, candice thompson, CANDICE, costume design, tisch, milwaukee ballet, creative arts studio
Hello Wingers.
Sorry this is a few days overdue (been a bit sicky this weekend), but I’d like to introduce you to Candice Thompson, a new contributor with a fun range of abilities and interests.
After studying at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and dancing with the Milwaukee Ballet, Candice is now a member of the Ad Hoc Ballet and is also the owner and designer of a dancewear line called LOLAstretch. In addition to her dance and fashion talents, she’s also a prolific costume designer, and teaches at the Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn, New York. You can read more about her in her profile, and check out her work in the links above.
Welcome Candice!
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
