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May 24, 2005: Costumes and Musicians
Welcome back everyone! Tech week has officially started, with Jim Ingalls and Ian Britton arriving this afternoon to watch run-throughs of the pieces in costumes. And speaking of costumes…
Our costume designer, Jennifer Langeberg-Vaughan, is one of Saint Joseph Ballet’s longest collaborators. She first started working with Beth in 1987, just a few short years after Saint Joseph Ballet was founded. Outside of our concerts Jennifer has also built up a tremendous resume working on Charles Schulz Ice Shows, the 1996 Summer Olympics, and HBO’s Against the Grain.
Saint Joseph Ballet’s costume requirements are a bit more unusual than most (I feel like I’ve said that about every aspect of this production!). The sheer size of our casts this year require more than 500 individual pieces, many of which are custom built by volunteers in the costume shop at our studios. Wait, don’t just read that and move on. 500 costume pieces! Ranging in style from ruffled skirts to blouses to tights to pants to, well you get the picture…The scope of this is staggering, especially when you consider that construction takes place over the course of only 10 weeks.
The costume production process is quite similar to the scenic designs, with Jennifer meeting with the choreographers and presenting sketches and swatches for discussion and (hopefully) approval. Once the designs are given the go-ahead, Jennifer develops patterns and starts ordering fabric so our volunteers can start sewing. Much of the construction takes place on Saturdays with our students’ Moms having terrific fun downstairs in the costume shop. It’s a community event with lots of home-made food that contributes to and intensifies the normal Saturday buzz during the warm concert rehearsal months. (Stop by our studios for a tour sometime on a Saturday in May. You’ll be amazed, confounded, and moved by the brilliant chaos that is Saint Joseph Ballet in the weeks leading up to our concert).
And speaking of brilliant chaotic Saturdays…
Last weekend we had a visit from Mariachi Voz de America, our musicians for Mi Corazon Canta. Richard Mata, musical director extraordinaire, and his 10 cohorts poured out of two vans at around 12:30pm in the midst of a typical Santa Ana heat wave. The poor dears were all in their black “trajes”, and it looked like a moment straight out of Once Upon a Time in Mexico as they grabbed their black instrument cases and marched through the shimmering heat waves emanating from the asphalt parking lot into the cool oasis of our building. Whispers from the 98 dancers could be heard throughout the studio: “The Mariachis are here!”. This was one of those days where when things go well, they really go well. The musicians set up quickly and professionally and launched into the first song, Alma Llanera, with tremendous zest. After weeks of rehearsing to the same recorded track, you could see the students literally straighten up and bounce with energy to the whirling melodic strains of the violins and trumpets. In a typical production manager moment, I made sure that the windows in the studios were open so that passerby’s could hear the mariachis and be inspired to buy tickets to our concert. I don’t know if it worked, but I imagine some of the staid visitors to the Bower’s Mummy exhibit next door were surprised by the energy whipping out of our building.
On the complete other end of the spectrum is the music for Dancing Into One, a commissioned score by San Francisco composer Aaron Novik. His haunting melodies have inspired an amazing soundtrack to Beth’s choreographed exploration of faith and spirituality. Music this rich and full of longing doesn’t do itself justice through recordings and we’re pleased that the Aaron Novik Quintet, made up of clarinet, trombone, tuba, violin, accordion, drums, and saw(!) will perform this score live at the Barclay. It absolutely shouldn’t be missed.
As I sit here writing it’s hard to believe that in one short week we’ll be in our final dress rehearsal, getting ready for opening night. How the time flies…It’s exciting to see how much of our original concepts from that first production meeting on June 4th 2004 have stuck around and come to fruition on stage.
It’s always bittersweet, the rush of a constant train rolling down the tracks towards Opening Night, and then four days later with the soft whoosh of the main drape hitting the deck for the last time, the show is over. There are lots of tears and hugs as the kids make their way onto the buses and wave goodbye to those of us standing in the scene shop getting ready to load-out More Life.
And so, as William Carlos Williams so brilliantly concluded his famous poem The Locust Tree in Winter, I’ll end this with one word:
again
Gratefully,
Ben Tusher
Artistic Manager
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