Ballet Competition Costume
Victoria Taylor
Queen Margaret College
Year 12 Materials Technology, Full year project
Teacher: Barbara Knight
Victoria's Year 12 Materials Technology project was to work in the context of What's the Occasion?. Students could identify any occasion and an appropriate client who had a specific need for that occasion.
Victoria is a talented and committed dancer, with many years' experience training, performing and competing in a wide variety of dance styles. A member of the Paula Hunt Dance Academy in Wellington, she regularly participates in ballet competitions and performances.
As a dancer, Victoria already had a sound understanding of what is required from a dance costume for it to be fit for purpose. It should be flexible, comfortable, not restrict the dancer's movements, or fall apart on stage! In competition, the look of the dancer is judged as well as the dance itself. There is a cultural expectation of elegance and 'glitziness' – a costume must catch the stage lighting for effect. It must be an appropriate colour, fit and style. These elements are all judged as part of the overall performance.
Victoria negotiated with a dancer friend, Kathryn, to develop a costume that Kathryn could wear in their annual dance competition. Kathryn is a talented dancer who regularly wins important dance competitions, so the stakes were quite high for Victoria.
Although a dancer herself, Victoria did not have much previous experience in constructing the dancing costumes. She researched how competition costumes were made and spoke at length to several costume designers and makers - to find out about specialised construction techniques and tips to ensure a quality garment would be developed.
Victoria disassembled some existing garments and noted things to avoid and things to improve. She also researched the culture of dance costumes and investigated what styles were deemed appropriate for the different types of dances and music styles used.
Mock-ups of the conceptual garment design were made to ensure the garment would be functional and robust – able to withstand the rigours and stress of intense physical movement and body flexing that occurs in a performance / competition dance. It was vital to create mock-ups in the fabric chosen for the real garment - to ensure the stretch and fit would not be compromised in the final solution. Kathryn also tested the functionality of the garment by doing practice dances in the mock-ups and again in the final solution - well before the final competition performance - to ensure the costume would be functional and durable enough to last the length of the competition performance.
A very successful garment was produced. Victoria's friend Kathryn wore it in the dancing competition - and won first place! Victoria was as proud of her garment (and was very thankful that it survived the dance!) as she was of her friend for wearing it in the competition.
Teacher comment
Working in real, authentic contexts is what makes Technology exciting. Students seeing their designs work as they were meant to, in the intended environment or situation, after all their intensive research, testing and trialling is such a great achievement.
Related links
Te Papa Souvenirs case study
Read an article about Victoria's project from the Dominion Post
