Making a ballet tutu can be a very rewarding experience. To see your costumes on stage after a long process of creating them creates feelings of pride and accomplishment, following carefully sewing on hooks and eyes, and creating layers and layers for the finished product.
For large scale companies and individual commissions the process is the same. For individual commissions, with perhaps one seamstress, it is a lot of hard work and long hours so they may only take on a few each season. For larger companies the work load is much heavier because of the all the programme demands and the dancers’ needs. The techniques to create tutus have mostly been in use since the 1800s; for many companies the bodices are made of cotton coutil, the same fabric used for corsets. This is extremely strong, but it is comfortable too and absorbs sweat.
A tutu is a pancake style skirt that sticks out from the dancer’s body, originally designed to show off the dancer’s legs and intricate footwork. Generally there are ten rows of ruffles forming a tutu, some of which use multiple layers of net and tulle, and often the cost of individual commissions can rise to hundreds or thousands of pounds. These one-of-a-kind costumes are completely special to the customer but part of everyday life for designers and creators.
Each tutu begins by making the knicker part, and from there the tutu itself is built and the bodice is constructed. For both aspiring and company dancers, the costume must be a perfect fit: the dancers often want them as tight as possible in order for them to feel more secure when performing. The tutus are designed to last a long time, enduring many performances, possibly many dancers and other wear and tear factors too. Performing on different stages also takes its toll however the costumes prevail.
Following the enormous success of last year’s festival, VAULT returns to Waterloo’s Leake Street tunnels from 28 January-8 March. Specifically, dance and physical theatre are one of VAULT’s areas of excellence this year with a wide programme of powerful and provocative shows taking over the venue.
A new research project that aims to analyse the mental processes used by dancers while they are performing has been launched in order to develop a better understanding of creative techniques. The three-year project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, is being led by Plymouth University and will work in collaboration with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London and Coventry University.
Thousands of dancers – from professionals to absolute beginners – are set to join Swing Patrol’s Swing Dance balls across the UK from late October to the end of November. The balls celebrate the first tour of the UK from lindy hop legend, Frankie Manning, in the UK’s biggest series of swing dance events. “Swing”, “jitterbug” and “lindy hop” are all synonyms for the street dance style popularised by Manning and other dancers in New York City from the late 1920s to late 1940s as they fused style, energy and fun.
Leeds-based company Northern Ballet has recently announced its plans for 2015, following a very successful year on the stage and in the studio in 2014. Having staged a number of successful productions with the dust slowly settling, 2015 looks set to be another exciting year for the company.
The Dance Register, the directory of UK-based dance teachers and leaders created by DTAP (Dance Training & Accreditation Partnership), champions and promotes high quality dance teaching and leadership. It includes teachers and leaders working in a wide range of dance styles and settings – from ballet and bollywood to ballroom, and salsa and Spanish to street!
The Mark Morris Dance Group, in order to fulfil their global tour in October and November 2014, will be going both east and west: for the first time in the company’s 34 year history, it will split into two groups. Half the troupe’s dancers will tour the United States, Scotland, Italy and Switzerland, while the remainder will head for Cambodia, East Timor and Taiwan. The company will then reunite in Shenzhen, China on 11 November. The company spends around half of each year touring.
Glasgow-born Christine Devaney trained at London Contemporary Dance School and has been performing, choreographing and teaching throughout her extensive career. She was a founding member of Dundee Rep Dance Company (now Scottish Dance Theatre) and for nine years performed with the internationally acclaimed V-tol Dance Company where she became Associate Director and played a key role in developing their highly respected education work.
Damian has a diverse background in dance and theatre having been Danish Ballroom and Latin Champion on several occasions. He was 1st runner up in So You Think You Can Dance (Denmark) and went on to continue his training at Laine Theatre Arts.
Darren was born in London England in the 1980s. He gained a scholarship for vocational training at The Urdang Academy where he trained extensively in acting, singing and dance. He graduated in 2007 with honours and went straight into his first show Carmen Jones at The Royal Festival Hall London.