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New York City Ballet
(NYCB Website)
Dance and Design
A Ballet Seminar
(New
York City Ballet Seminar Web Page)
Moderator: Joan Quatrano, Managing Director,
Volunteer & Programmatic Services
Panelists: Marc Happel: Designer, Director, Costume & Wardrobe
Marguerite Mehler: Production Stage Manager
Tiler Peck: Principal Dancer
Mark Stanley: Resident Lighting Designer
Founders, George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein
Founding Choreographers: George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins
Ballet Master in Chief: Peter Martins
Ballet Mistress: Rosemary Dunleavy
Assistant to the Ballet Master in Chief: Sean Lavery
Children’s Ballet Master: Garielle Whittle
Orchestra, Music Director: Fayçal Karoui
Chairman of the Board: John L. Vogelstein
Managing Dir. Communications and Special Projects: Robert
Daniels
Manager, Media Relations: Katharina Plumb
Assoc., Communications and Special Projects: Caitlin Gillette
The David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
www.lincolncenter.org
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
September 20, 2010
(Read
more NYC Ballet Reviews)
Today’s NYC Ballet Seminar on Design of costumes and lighting,
brought out panelists ranging from Marc Happel, Designer
and Director of Costumes and Wardrobes, Marguerite Mehler,
Production Stage Manager, Tiler Peck, Principal Dancer,
and Mark Stanley, Resident Lighting Designer. Tonight’s
Moderator was Joan Quatrano, Managing Director, Volunteer
& Programmatic Services. The David H. Koch Theater was packed
on the orchestra level, and the audience was quite engaged.
Ms. Peck, who seems to appear and star in so many current
productions, with youthful vigor, in a range of character
and abstract roles, spoke about the lead time to fit her
costumes. In the recent Bigonzetti dance (Luce Nascosta)
, she had more time, but in the Wheeldon (Estancia),
less time. In the McGregor (Outlier), a unitard was
easy to work with. The panelists talked about the timing
of matching lighting, choreography, and costumes, while
each element in the production is still a work in progress.
This was riveting (for a balletomane), as we mentally conjure
these elements, while the respective ballet is analyzed.
Ms. Mehler mentioned deadlines, goals, and rehearsals as
key to her role in managing the stage production. For Peter
Martins’ Mirage, a recent premiere, the choreography
merged with the shapes of Calatrava’s metal bird-like shape,
followed by Mr. Stanley’s lighting, that gave a final multi-colored,
vibrant effect to the original, white, metal structure.
For Luce Nascosta, Mr. Happel talked about the challenge
of receiving discs of black fabric two weeks before the
premiere, shapes that matched Calatrava’s discs. Mr. Happel
then transformed the discs into bird-like black and gold
costumes. Ms. Peck then reassured Mr. Happel that he always
does it on time, and the costumes look great. Mr. Stanley
spoke about lighting the amazing disc shapes of five of
Calatrava’s set designs in the recent “Architecture of Dance”
series. Mr. Stanley’s lights are somewhat controlled by
computer, and the challenge is to light the discs when they
are not moving, as well as to enhance them with paint quality
of color. Shifting from challenges to inspirations, Mr.
Happel gave credit to Karinska, as well as to Barbara Matera,
who ran the costume shop before he did. Ms. Peck gave inspirational
credit to Wendy Whelan, Julie Kent (ABT), and Alina Cojocaru
(Royal Ballet). Mr. Stanley’s muses were the English painter,
William Turner, and the Alwin Nikolais Company’s lighting
concepts.
In a discussion of honoring the original designs of costumes
and lighting, Mr. Happel mentioned his dedication to caring
for Karinska’s costumes, some 30 years old. In recreating
her designs, he sometimes has to dye synthetics to match
the natural look of her creations. Some older fabrics are
no longer available. Mr. Stanley talked of Ronald Bates’
(original lighting designer) notes, like “snow”. Mr. Happel
talked about the challenge of the Grazioso ballerina
costume change, taking a top skirt off during the ballet.
For Balanchine’s Jewels, Mr. Happel elaborated on
the glass jewels that are encrusted into the costumes for
the three acts. He likes to use light decorations that don’t
add weight to the dancer. He discussed the pancake style
tutu, morphing from 12-14 layers to 7 layers with no hoop.
Ms. Mehler told the panel and audience about double-flooring
that allows management to store props and gift shop replacements.
As for sets, she referred to The Sleeping Beauty
and Swan Lake, as large-scale story ballets, whose
expansive sets go off-site for storage. Mr. Stanley shifted
to Balanchine’s lighting notes, “pale, blue, pink, intense”.
He said that Balanchine’s lighting “fills the air with energy”
and also spoke of Wendy Whelan telling him how to light
Liturgy. Mr. Stanley says he helps out-of-town designers
scale their lighting, when New York City Ballet dancers
are there for a performance.
In a shift to highlighting the comfort of costumes, Mr.
Happel mentioned Call Me Ben, with retro wide-legged
pants for men and suits with secretly designed tricks, so
the dancers can move. He confided in being careful about
fabrics that get caught in partnering and about head pieces
that throw off balance. When Mr. Happel broached the subject
of color palettes, he suggested that subtlety doesn’t work
with stage lighting, that costume design is far different
from fashion design. In fact, he has had to change fabrics
suddenly, when he sees the lighting effects on the original
choices. Tiler Peck had the last word, about a tutu that
lit her up for television on “Dancing with the Stars”. The
tutu lights were so brilliant that the television viewers
couldn’t see her dance!
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