I love, love, love dance. I feel it from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes and deep, deep into my soul. Not to sound dramatic, but it truly moves me more than any other art form. The combination of movement, music, costumes, lighting… it just gets me every single time.

I have loved dance for as long as I can remember. Maybe it was the influence of my mother. She used to take me to see the Nutcracker every single December. We saw all sorts of dance performances together, including a very interesting one in Paris where the curtain would come crashing down with an unnerving thud after each movement.

There is a definite link between theater & dance and fashion. Fashion is undoubtedly an art. And a runway show is certainly a performance. Alexander McQueen knew this. And Karl Lagerfeld obviously knows it. But costume design is a very different thing from fashion design. Although some designers can actually cross over (Gaultier’s many memorable costumes for Madonna come to mind), they really are two separate art forms.

Anyway, after a lovely post by the Queens of Kingdom of Style about their visit to the Scottish Ballet, I got to thinking about exploring the dance in Chicago. I decided to reach out to the Joffrey Ballet and was thrilled to no end when I got a response from Eric with their PR firm. Eric invited us to chat with Marianne, the mistress of the Joffrey’s wardrobe department, and preview the creation of some original costumes for 2 world premiere pieces for Eclectica, their Spring program. So exciting!

When we got to the Joffrey’s costume department on Monday morning, it was 2 days before the premiere of the Spring program and everyone was busy, busy, busy completing and putting the finishing touches on the costumes to be worn. Marianne was sewing the entire time we were talking (frequently utilizing a pair of sewing scissors dangling from a ribbon around her neck).

Also in the running for favorite (and super-wearable, like put me in it RIGHT NOW) were these dresses from Crossed, one of the 2 premiere pieces making their debut. Choreographed by Jessica Lang, with costumes designed by Tamara Cobus.

a finished version waiting for its ballerina…

in progress…

 

     

and in action…

They also created these unbelievable corsets with contemporary tutus for the world premiere of Pretty Ballet, choreographed by James Kudelka with costumes designed by Denis Lavoie.

The corsets had over 32 pieces of fabric and took 10-15 hours each to put together. According to Marianne, Denis actually sent her a completed corset to show them what he wanted and then Marianne and her team adapted it to dance. Marianne says, “For me, the fun and the challenge is in taking someone else’s design and making it work for dance.” An underrated skill, if you ask me.

Here’s the Joffrey’s lead stitcher, Lavinia (or her hands, anyway), working on one of the many corsets…

a couple more in progress…

And on stage…

I was really hoping to see a sketch and finished costume, and although their renderings “bible” was not present (can you imagine how cool that must be??) there was this piece from Arpino’s Paquita. 

The sketch…

and the finished product…

Designed and built by the Joffrey’s Travis Halsey, this baby is like a piece of couture. With over 100 hours of labor, you would see this retail for at least $2500. In person, it’s like a fairy tale.

The Joffrey has a very exciting 2010-11 season coming up, including an All Stars program featuring Joffrey premiere pieces by the legendary George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Can’t wait to see that one! Check out Joffrey.org for more info.

A very big and most heartfelt THANK YOU to Eric Eatherly and The Silverman Group, Marianne Marks, Travis Halsey and their whole crew, and the Joffrey Ballet for making this most amazing day possible!