As the great Diaghilev understood so well, the design elements of a ballet are artistic products in their own right. This season, Queensland Ballet celebrates the beautiful costumes that have been created for its production of Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella with a video entitled Cinderella – Behind the Curtain. The video gives viewers a chance to do exactly that – peek behind the scenes to hear from costume designer Tracy Grant-Lord, and glimpse the costumes in the making.
Grant-Lord has designed gorgeously elaborate costumes, many with braid, beading and crystals. There are 42 different designs for 29 different characters and 130 costume sets, each comprising up to five pieces. Several thousand metres of fabric and trim are required! Wardrobe production manager Noelene Hill has marshalled an army of talented craftspeople to make patterns, costumes, jewellery, headpieces, hats, and shoes. The costumes are very elaborate in detail; besides braids and trims a lot of them will also have 100’s of Swarovski crystals sewn onto each costume. Approximately 6,500 – 7,000 hours will be spent on making the costumes.
You can view Cinderella – Behind the Curtain here:
Above: examples of Tracy Grant Lord's designs for Cinderella.
Cinderella opens 5 April. More info here.