Bejeweled
The New York City Ballet's site presents a slide show, Bedecked, Bedazzled & Bejeweled: Costume Ornamentation At New York City Ballet.
Robert Sandla writes of the exhibit in the Power of Costumes:
On paper, the descriptions are carefully neutral: “ Tutu, classical: Dark grey silk bodice, heart-shaped neckline and beige tulle halter….Has matching headpiece.” “ Dress: Peach chiffon dress, knee length, asymmetrical straps, faux lacing on back, jewels at left shoulder, bow at waist where skirt opens.” “Tutu, classical: Gold and pink lamé brocade bodice with jewels, blue satin sash over right shoulder; jewel brocade palettes, stylized sequin ‘flippers’ from waist.”
In photographs, the costumes bloom with a fierce poetry, products of wild imagination and painstaking industry. The tutus and tiaras, the grand gowns and flirty skirts, the formal men’s jackets and dapper vests worn by generations of New York City Ballet dancers can now be viewed here on the Company’s website – and it’s a dazzling display. Ballet is famously the most ethereal of the arts, and most of us only glimpse costumes as they move at high speed on a distant stage. New York City Ballet’s new online gallery gives everyone the chance to examine a treasure trove of costumes at leisure, and in ravenous detail. Balletomanes, dancers, artists, fashion plates, cultural historians, designers — anyone with eyes — will stare for hours.
Click on the link to begin the slide show
Many of the costumes highlighted at the NYCB online exhibit were designed by Karinska. We've found a Dance magazine article on the costumer by Allegra Kent, who danced with the New York City Ballet from 1953 to 1983:
"I lived an important part of my life in Karinska's creations. Night after night during many seasons over the course of thirty years, I pursued my childhood dream of dancing, and I did so for the most part in her costumes. I explored some of the greatest choreography ever invented while booked or snapped up in her sumptuous creations."