Behind the scenes: Costumes

Ballet costumes look beautiful from the audience.  They make the dancers look like their characters, and each costume is specially fit to the dancer who will be wearing it.  If you're not a dancer, or if you're dancing in the Nutcracker for the first time this year, you may not be familiar with the fun and tedious process that is costuming.

Except for occasional new works and re-workings, ballet companies have a stock of costumes.  If you are dancing in the Nutcracker, the company most likely has a costume for each part already made.  Because of this, costumes actually drive much of casting for child dancers.  Costume pieces are made in set sizes that can be adjusted only a little (adding or taking out tucks in the fabric), so party children and polichinelles are chosen by height as much as by ability.

After dancers have been cast, a costumer measures each dancer (usually height, girth, inseam, bust, waist, and sometimes thigh and arm circumference or sleeve length).  The costumer then usually pre-selects pieces for each dancer to try on based on their measurements.  Though many costumes look like dresses from the stage, most are actually made up of a separate skirt and top that may or may not be eventually sewn together.

Corps dancers (such as Nutcracker's snow or polichinelles) all wear the same or similar costumes, so the costumer may have dancers trade pieces or try on multiple pieces if the pre-selected costume doesn't fit well.  There is also usually a lot of effort made to ensure the costumes fit each dancer the same way even though there are differences in the dancers' bodies.  For example, the romantic tutus on snow costumes must appear the same length when the dancers are lined up even though the dancers are different heights.  This may mean one dancer's skirt hits right below her knee and another's hits her mid-shin.

For soloists and principal dancers, there may only be one costume for that part (for example, only one sugar plum fairy costume).  The dancer cast in that role must be the proper size for the costume (within the possibility of adjustment).  It's a sad truth that sometimes curvy or extra-petite dancers are passed over for these roles because the costumes just don't work for them.

For the corps, soloists, and principals, once the correct costume pieces are assigned to each dancer, the costumer will make adjustments to ensure a perfect fit.  This often entails taking or letting out tucks, adding or changing straps, and shortening or lengthening sleeves and hemlines.  Dancers must put on their costumes and stand very still as the costumer pins the costume (usually with safety pins) and writes notes about what needs adjusting.

Sometimes if there are multiple casts performing a ballet or show, multiple dancers must share the same costume.  The director will be sure to cast doubles who are similar in size, but the costumer often still needs to take special care to make the costume fit both dancers well.  The costumer may sew on two different sets of hooks and eyes in a bodice so it can fit once dancer slightly more loosely than another, or straps can be put on snaps so they can be added and removed to accommodate different arm sizes.

When dancers are wearing company-owned costumes, they must take care of them.  Wear and tear is unavoidable during any physical activity, but dancers work to protect costumes by stepping gently into tulle skirts, keeping delicate pieces away from things that could snag them (like wire and bobby pins), wearing antiperspirant, and applying bold lipstick carefully.