Every year, I have the opportunity to costume performances for Fusion Dance Academy. Sewing for children has always been one of my favorites, and sewing for these dancers is no exception. I always know I got it right when a young girl will slip into her dress and start twirling across the floor, or break into a smile and say, I feel so beautiful! After five years of working with them, I also really enjoy the relationships I've built with the studio and some of the dancers. Instead of starting from scratch like I do with a new project, I get to build on what we've already done for each new season, and expand and grow with the studio. This year, I was designing for three different age groups. The whole studio participates in their performance at the end of the year, with different dances that create a unified story, so it's important that the costumes also have a unified look. We wanted to make sure that they were age appropriate, and bit unique for each class. Since I'm usually building between 20 and 40 costumes, it's also important that they're relatively simple to construct, and will look good on a variety of girls. I started off with the littlest class, 3-4 year olds. One of our building blocks that stays the same each year with just a few tweaks is my tutu pattern for this group. This year, we're using pink, gold, and rose gold for the costumes. It was this rose gold elastic we found that sparked inspiration for the rest of the color scheme! And of course, a matching petite pouf for each girl's hair. For the next class up - the five year olds - we wanted to stick with tutus, but dress them up a little bit, and give them a little more length. I added a layered effect with ivory netting underneath and pink tulle on top, which gives the colors a little more movement and depth when they're dancing. One interesting part of designing costumes is remembering how they look on stage as well as up close. Stage lighting can transform colors and textures, and details should be seen from a greater distance. And of course some extra sparkle never hurts! For the oldest girls, I designed a full dress instead of simply a skirt. Building dance wear requires attention to different details than everyday clothing. Although is only worn in performance a few times, it has to stand up to pretty heavy wear during that time. It also has to move with the dancers in more extreme ways and be able to stretch without moving around too much on their bodies. My favorite part of these dresses is the material we found for the bodice, a light rose colored stretch velour, sturdy, stretchy, and comfortable. The layered skirts and shimmery material will catch the lights as they dance!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Design BlogThis is the place to find projects in process and get a glimpse inside of my work. Archives
December 2020
Categories
All
|