Save the Last Dance for Gilles Mendel
After a highly successful career as a dancer for the New York City Ballet Company, Melissa Barak launched a career in choreography in 2007. Now with several successful ballets under her belt, and a Choo-San Goh Award for Choreography to boot, Barak is proud to announce her latest endeavor, Call Me Ben.
Call Me Ben is a one-act ballet inspired by the legendary gangster, Bugsy Siegel. Ballet stars Jenifer Ringer and Robert Fairchild are featured in the roles of Virginia Hill and her lover, Bugsy.
Of course, the beauty of ballets is often heightened by the wardrobes of the dancers. And who knows grace and femininity better than Gilles Mendel of J. Mendel? It comes as no surprise that the celebrated designer was tapped to construct the 1940’s era costumes of this highly anticipated show.
To construct the ballet’s looks, Gilles worked with Marc Happel, director of the New York City Ballet’s costume shop, to ensure that the costumes were dancer friendly. This meant that fitted skirts were transformed into wrap skirts and stretch net material replaced the usual bodice boning.
What resulted is a collection of costumes that closely reflects Gilles beautiful aesthetic and perfectionism. Delicate chiffon was tightly pleated for the females’ dresses, and Loro Piana fabrics were cut to resemble Fourties-inspired suits for the male dancers.
The exercise for Gilles in the principles and techniques of ballet design was so inspiring that he applied the aesthetic and methods to his Resort 2010 collection.
With all this ballet on the mind, you’ll have to save the last dance for J. Mendel come early spring! Find these and other styles at Hirshleifers.
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