A morning at the National Ballet of Canada

My U of Toronto School of Continuing Studies students and I had a great time visiting the Walter Carsen Centre for The National Ballet of Canada this morning. After a brief visit to the set model room where we saw set models for Don Quixote, The Merry Widow, and Nutcracker, we had a quick look at the wigs and then visited the wardrobe department. I have the highest admiration for the creative people in wardrobe who transform the designers' sketches into beautiful costumes that work with the dancers. Repairs on Don Quixote costumes are underway, replacing dead elastic on tutu bottoms and generally refurbishing. We saw a Snow Queen tutu up close, laden with the brocade and trim that is so characteristic of Santo Loquasto's designs. Then it was off to see the centre section of the dancers' daily class, taught by Rex Harrington (what a treat). After having Lorna Geddes, amazingly a 50-year veteran of the company (so youthful looking she must have started dancing before she was born!) explain the inner workings of pointe shoes, it was back to the studio to see ballet mistress Mandy-Jayne Richardson imparting the secrets of Balanchine style to the corps in Serenade. "Let the poetry of the music inhabit your whole body and heart and soul," she told them.