What a dream job I have as Ballet Memphis’ in-house costume designer. I’ve been here for 10 years, having come from the craziness of L.A., to a place where I have been able to really stretch myself as a creator. First, a little bit about me.
I was born in Hoi An, Vietnam, a few years after the Vietnam War ended. I lived there until around age 7, when my parents and I moved to Saigon. Not too long after that, my parents decided to emigrate. After being smuggled in a fishing boat for seven days, we were rescued and became refugees, taking asylum in the Philippines, where my parents processed their paperwork and got accepted to come to America. We ended up living in the San Fernando Valley in California.
I grew up sewing costumes and dresses for family and friends, but I had no idea that there were actually people behind the scenes who made a living creating what goes on the stage and screen. In fact, it was only by coincidence that I stumbled upon this profession. In college, I was going to major in business administration, but while picking out my first-semester courses for freshmen year, I thought I would try at least one fun class. The theatre department had a costume shop that was offering a course, and since I loved to sew, I signed up for it.
That class really opened my eyes and offered so many new opportunities. Since I already excelled in sewing, I ended up working for the department’s costume shop; then I ran the shop for my work-study program. After a lot of soul searching, I eventually changed my major to theatre with an emphasis in technical theatre. When I graduated, I had a decent resume, and continued to freelance with different theatres in Los Angeles. I was never short on projects, and they varied so much that it made for an exciting and sometimes chaotic life as a freelance costume designer.
After deciding that I wanted a calmer pace in life, I thought working full time in a costume shop would be more fulfilling than running around to every corner of Los Angeles every day. Just around the same time, I read that Ballet Memphis had a wardrobe supervisor position available. Ballet Memphis offered to fly me out to interview, and within a week, I had found an apartment in Midtown, flown back to L.A. to pack, and gotten back here to start at Ballet Memphis, all in less than two weeks.
This company is one of the most unique organizations that I have ever worked for, and it is still exciting to go to work every day. I began as the wardrobe supervisor, but am now also the in-house costume designer, and manage the costume shop and shoe stock. Supervising the costume shop at Ballet Memphis is about organizing the multiple shows being mounted, including our mainstage shows, outreach and tour, and junior company shows. If we are re-staging a piece, it is our responsibility to re-create the choreographer’s and the designer’s original intentions. That can sometimes get tricky when we haven’t done that piece for several years. Fabrics can be discontinued, or sewing patterns can be filed away incorrectly, making it difficult to find them.
When we do a new piece, whether I’m designing or a guest designer, we produce an appropriate and cohesive look with the choreographer and construct what is needed (sometime in duplicates for a second cast). It is always a collaborative effort, and the process is different depending on whom and sometimes what material we are working with. I have been fortunate to have designed for a variety of chorographers at Ballet Memphis, some who are dancers themselves in the building, and some who come and create new work on the company. It all starts with an idea, and depending on how each choreographer works through his or her process, our goal is to evolve the ideas as best we can. Sometimes it works from the beginning, and sometimes it becomes a great lesson to note for the next time. Every time, it is about exchanging ideas, and some of the best experiences I’ve had are when I’m open to a different point of view.
I also maintain the shoe stock for the dancers. For the men, that means having the brands, styles, sizes and varieties of color in the shoes they need, and sometimes dyeing them if needed. For the women, that means keeping their stock of pointe shoes consistent. It’s a little more complicated, but we do it. Most of our ladies wear custom handmade pointe shoes, made by a handful of craftsmen in London and elsewhere. The waiting time can range anywhere from three to nine months. Every month, I receive a breakdown of each shoe maker and his or her current waiting time for shoes. Some shoe makers are so popular, they won’t take on any new dancers.
The tricky part is assessing, as best we can, how much pointe work is coming up within the year, how long each shoe maker will take to fill the shoe order, and when to place the order. Taking into consideration that the shape of the dancers’ feet do change, ordering too many shoes at one time is not an ideal option, as they are rather expensive.
From short pieces, to full-evening story ballet, the costume shop always puts a finishing touch to the experience.
