DanceLight 2012

Here is a sneak peak of the men's ballet tunic that I just finished for a CMU dance show called 'DanceLight'. The show features about 20 dances choreographed, danced, lit and costumed by CMU students. This year Elisabeth and I were each assigned to build a men's ballet tunic for this ballet duet. I built the tunic for the gentleman on the left in the above picture.

I had never built a men's ballet tunic before, so this was quite an adventure. The tunic consists of a spandex fitted shirt with the tunic sleeves attached, and a separate tunic that can either zip, snap, or hook closed at front. Because the sleeves are attached to a separate stretch shirt, the dancer is able to have more freedom of movement.

This picture was taken at the dress rehearsal, so it is still in an unfinished stage without trim. It's a good think that there isn't a picture of the back of the tunic. No sooner had I fastened the tunic on the wearer than it began to literally fall apart at the seams. Apparently the thread that I used was dry rotting. So, the tunic was taken apart and restitched with better thread. In the end, I was happy with the way the tunic turned out. There are some things that I would change if I were to do it all again, but it was a great learning experience.

Now I'm finishing up the Pet en l'air for a customer and then on to draping a Victorian inspired dress for 'Turn of the Screw'.