As the Melbourne season of Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker draws closer, The Australian Ballet’s ‘gentleman’s cutter’, Peggy Moad, walks us through the all-important costume and technical run.
I had my stage debut with Principal Artist Damien Welch today. The response from our fearless leader and Artistic Director David McAlister was, “Fabulous darling, what’s your availability?” Of course it was just the costume and technical run for Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker Act II, and I was just testing the royal box wheel with the backstage crew, seeing how it worked with people inside. That’s what you get when you go on stage just to check a costume.
It’s bump-in week for the touring staff and dancers and it’s a big week – for me it’s just over 60 hours and I’m a lightweight. Act II has a lot of quick changes for the dancers and the best way to check for any potential wardrobe malfunctions is to stand backstage and get feedback from the dressers and dancers right before and after those quick changes happen. Things can also seem to fit a little differently in the translation from fitting room to the stage.
Another big part of tech week is the costume fittings for the extras, including child extras. With 16 boys to fit into three costumes each, as well as half a dozen adult extras just for the men’s department, it’s quite a scheduling dance to make sure it all happens and that all the alterations are completed. Not to mention the odd bit of soft props, just to mix it up a bit
All in all just another week in the office really. Better go start sorting The Sleeping Beauty costumes.
Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker – The Story of Clara opens in Melbourne this Friday 5 June
Does it bother any one else that the News Paper boy isn’t wearing sox? I though they had been misplaced in the process of Bump in, but we found them in the very last touring create to be unpacked – it’s always the last create…
Having seen Nutcracker last week, (and part of it on Wednesday at Intro to the Ballet) and watched the DVD last night, I’m curious about the work that goes into designing the costumes for a historical ballet. I mean one where there are defined historical times shown (the 50s, and then back to and through the first half of the 20th Century) – did the costume designer try to use actual patterns and designs from those eras, or just to get the overall impression? For example, why was one of the Russian Emigre friends wearing a black arm band but not the others?
Or, for example, the dresses worn by Clara and her friends on their picnic – how historically accurate are they? And the dresses worn by the ladies of the Russian Court? (Some of that scene reminded me strongly of the Disney movie Anastasia.)
And then there’s the tutus worn by the Russian company – both dancing before the Tsar and later in the Australian farewell performance. Are there photos of these performances that were copied for this ballet? Or are they totally out of the designer’s brain?
Oh, and speaking of the Russian dancing – the film shown that takes Clara back to her beginning – is that actual historical archival footage, or was it put together just for this ballet?
Lots of questions I know, but I really am interested in the answers.
Jen
That is a lot of really good questions and the short answer is Yes! A lot of research goes in to designing an historical ballet.
A more detailed answer to your 5 questions are…
1 Why is the Emigre friend wearing a black armband?
His wife has died- a necessary narrative conceit to provide Clara with a dance partner. Her lover, remember was killed in Russia.
2.Are the dresses in the picnic scene historically correct?
Yes – they are very much of the period. Actual patterns from the period are not used but they are studied from books and adapted for ballet.
3. And the Russian court…
Most definitely! I found this great reference of Tsar Nicholas in his dress uniform, which I’m sure, would have been used as a reference. Military uniform patterns are also studied from books and then adapted. I heard a great quote about military jackets: “You’re not supposed to be able to lift your hands above your head as this would make it too easy to surrender.” Of course, this would not be suitable for ballet.
4. Tutu designs form the Marininsky Theatre – inspiration or copies?
The size and shape of the tutus are inspired by what was fashionable in Russia at the time – but the design is original, I believe. The shorter tutus in the Princess theatre scene are also true to the period.
5.Where are the films from?
The flim shown at the beginning on the tablecloth is taken of our dancers in our costumes. The film projected a bit latter is a bit of both – some to help the story connect with some actual historical footage spliced in.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Tsar_nikolai.jpg
Thankyou so much for a fascinating response. I love reading details like this, and really appreciate you taking the time to answer.