Eclectic Edge Ensemble

Study Guide: Costumes Galore

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Many people come together to make the shows that EEE puts on a success. One very talented and very important lady is Dana, our costume designer. Her talents have taken center stage year after year, with her beautiful designs and expertise. It isn't easy clothing 16+ dancers for every show, but somehow Dana always gets it done, and does a fabulous job. We wanted to hear from Dana her process in creating her costumes and she was kind enough to share with us her process. Happy reading, enjoy!

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Of all the sewing I have done over the years, sewing and designing dance costumes for EEE is the most challenging and rewarding. My passion for sewing started when I was very young and would visit my grandmother who was a seamstress. I would marvel at all the beautiful clothes she would create from wedding dresses, to prom dresses, to business suits and kid's clothing. I started with doll clothes and then in Junior High took the mandatory Home Economics sewing class. (Yes, it used to be mandatory for young girls to take both cooking and sewing classes from 7th-9th grades.) I found I loved it, the sewing, the creativity from picking a pattern, to finding the perfect fabric, to the satisfaction and pride in the finished piece.

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It was just a natural process that when Karis started a dance company, that I would "do costumes". Each show, each dance, is a unique experience. Working with Karis has become second nature in understanding what she wants. She usually has a very good idea of what she is looking for in costumes; whether is it color, texture, look, pants, dresses, tops, crop pants, fitted, flowing . . .I'd like shoulders and backs exposed, I want flowing dresses, I need very fitted costumes, the costumes need to be these colors . With Karis, I usually have not seen the dance prior to designing the costume.

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For guest choreographers or directors it is a little different for each person. Some know pretty much what they are looking for in costumes, some leave it up to me. For Send in the Jazz, Molly knew exactly what she wanted. I watched rehearsals and came up with plans. For Judith, she explained what her piece was about and we both came up with the color scheme and she asked for costumes that were "all the same yet different". Having dressed the dancers for so many years, I tried to make each costume in their style within the color scheme. For Zoe, I watched a couple of rehearsals to get the feel of her piece. We agreed that the dance was celebrating our differences and our sameness. We talked with the dancers and decided on costumes that were bright, bold and brilliant in color, yet were tied together with a common theme.

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I then start to design the costume and search for fabrics. I'm not a seamstress or tailor and don't have the talent to completely design and make up a pattern for the costume, but I can create the look and then alter, create or combine patterns to get the look we are wanting. Because the dancers in EEE give so much of their time, I try and make it very easy for them with costumes fittings. I bring the costumes to rehearsals and fit them during breaks. It makes a lot more work for me as I have to baste each costume, fit it and then sew it all over again, but has worked out well over the years. My goals are to please the director, choreographer and dancers, but the reality is that the dancers must be comfortable in the clothing or it doesn't work. I never want any dancer to have to worry about the costume during the performance.

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I hope this gives you an idea of the process. Each show, each dance is different; the sewing can range from being so much fun creating each separate piece, being able to create what I want keeping the dance in mind, to the repetition of sewing 16 pairs of jazz pants. Whatever the challenges are, I am thrilled to be able to do this for my daughter and these fabulous dancers!! I know that my grandmother most be looking down with pride, contentment and I hope a smile.

~Dana

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This performance is made possible, in part, by MRAC and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008