Ballet Arizona: The making of a fairy tale tutu

PHOENIX — Ballet Arizona will be debuting 32 brand new costumes including 18 tutus that were all handmade in their costume shop.

The outfits will be worn during the performances of Cinderella at the Phoenix Symphony Hall from Feb. 15 to 18.

Samantha Turner, executive director at Ballet Arizona, said the creation of these tutus tells the story of Arizona’s incredible socioeconomic impact.

“It’s a wonderful story to know that artistically we are able to create these costumes to be seen on the Phoenix Symphony Hall’s stage, but it also tells the story of the Phoenix metropolitan economic. That we are growing and are able to support the talent that is usually found somewhere else in the country.”

The ideas of the costumes for the performances of Cinderella began last summer. Costume Director Leonor Texidor led a team of twelve seamstresses, each of which dedicated 300 hours of work per person over the course of seven and a half weeks.

Historically, Ballet Arizona needed to turn to cities like New York City or Los Angeles to have tutus made.  Now, they have assembled a team that has the talent required to do this right here locally with a strong and diverse employee base.

“Everything has been made by hand,” costume director Leonor Texidor said.

The costume team at Ballet Arizona has created 32 new costumes that include stenciled paint on top of tool, hand cut lace, and one costume even has 5,000 beads. Texidor created costumes for winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Each are distinguished in color and Swarovski crystals that emulate items snow or foliage.

Ballet Arizona will now be a hub for other ballets across the country seeking costumes and tutus. Turner said no ballet company can afford to build brand new tutus year after year.

“Companies rent costumes from each other all the time, she said. “With the creation of these new costumes and tutus, Ballet Arizona is creating an ongoing revenue stream for the company and local economy.”

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