Dance Explosion Blog – 8-8-11
In addition to the dancers, singers and band, the costumes in Dance Explosion also have a starring role.
One of our terrific dancers, Jessica Moryl, also served as Costume Designer for the show. She took on the challenging task of designing and coordinating costumes that would accurately represent each dance style and its accompanying music. Jessica also made sure that each dancer, singer and band member would look their best on stage. When you see the show, take note of the red, authentic Latin-style dresses adorned with crystal embellishments that Jess put together for our ladies, during their Latin numbers. Kudos to Jess for an incredible job of costume design!
In the weeks leading up to opening night, every costume was fitted and styled perfectly to each performer. Looking closely, you can see that the detailing of the costumes is amazing – quite an accomplishment, considering each dancer wears between 22 and 25 costumes during the show!
With minimal help, each dancer and singer is responsible for their own costumes, and they rely on each other for the occasional button, zip or straighten. For Dance Explosion, each performer has their own chair in the wing, and is responsible for stacking and pre-setting their costumes for the entire show on their chair. Costumes are laid out and pre-set perfectly to avoid any “wardrobe malfunctions,” especially since some costume changes are 30 seconds or less.
The Wardrobe Department is also in on the act, keeping track of every piece of clothing, and laundering, maintaining and redistributing each costume to each performer after every show.
Costuming for a show of this magnitude is an enormous undertaking, but the AMT team behind the scenes makes it look beautiful and easy!