Costume Designer Virginia Chu Set To Make Fine Birds Of Swan Lake Dancers
They say clothes maketh the man. In Virginia Chu’s case, she knows it can also maketh – or breaketh – a show.
The veteran Hong Kong costume designer has seen her fair share of wardrobe malfunctions: From a woman’s dress catching on a guy’s jacket, to a skirt coming undone, and even a Janet Jackson moment.
But after 17 years of dressing up everyone from touring Broadway shows such as Cats to Hong Kong Disneyland’s Mickey Mouse and co, the 36-year-old is prepared for just about any scenario. This time around, she’s in charge of a flock of “swans”.
For Singapore Dance Theatre’s production of the ballet classic, Swan Lake, which opens tomorrow at the Esplanade Theatre, Chu created about 90 hand-crafted costumes and numerous headpieces, wigs and jewellery.
But don’t expect fluffy feathers – the dancers won’t look like birds, Chu promised. Instead, “every girl will sparkle when they go onstage” – thanks to the use of lots of Swarovski crystals.
A hands-on designer who’s “a bit crazy”, Chu said that when she designs costumes, she does everything herself, right down to dyeing the fabrics.
After a decade-long stint at the Hong Kong Ballet, she landed one of her biggest gigs in 2004, working as the senior costumer for the launch of Disneyland the following year.
“We did the whole park and it was non-stop crazy!” she said.
So, how different is it dressing up a guy in a mouse suit compared to ballerinas in tutus?
Before she could dress Mickey up in a red beanie with matching Chinese silk shirt and Minnie in a red cheongsam, Chu said they had to get approval from the main office “before we could change even a button”.
But in terms of creativity, ballet productions are more difficult and involves a bit of … maths?
“Dancers move a lot so you’ll need to calculate the movement. The ‘swans’ may do 20 pirouettes, so you can’t make the skirt too big or too long,” she said.
When Chu was a student, her dream, she said, was to do Broadway shows. Now that she has done practically all the Broadway and ballet productions that have passed through the region – this could possibly include an Asian tour of Cinderella next year – her next goal is to set up a haute couture fashion label.
But what we’d really like to know from this costume expert is: Does she secretly wear her own designs when no one’s watching?
“Never! I like to make people look good, but I’m always wearing jeans and T-shirts. I’m the messy one,” she said with a laugh.
WHAT: SWAN LAKE
WHEN: DEC 20-23, 8PM
WHERE: ESPLANADE THEATRE
TICKETS: $38 to $88 from SISTIC –
Channel News Asia
Music World’s Great Night
Music world’s great night
THE BIGGEST names in music will grace the stage at the recording industry’s most prestigious event — the 44th Annual Grammy Awards — which will be telecast by Star World on Thursday at 9 p.m. (it will be aired earlier at 6.30 a.m. and at 5.30 p.m.).
The stars are set to shine when the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announces the benchmark in music. The nominees include such luminaries as U2 (with eight nominations, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year), India.Arie (seven nominations), Alicia Keys (six nominations), Nelly Furtado, Train, and Lucinda Williams (each with four nominations). Other artistes with nominations include Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Aerosmith, Trisha Yearwood, Sade, Elton John, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Aaliyah, and well, several others.
An impressive line-up of artistes is guaranteed to heat up the stage with performances scheduled by Alicia Keys, Alejandro Sanz with Destiny’s Child, U2, *NSYNC with Nelly, Train, the Dave Mathews Band, Alan Jackson, and a special tribute to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack with Emmylou and Alison Krauss.
There’s more to come. A wide range of artistes from the music and TV world have been invited as presenters at the awards, including Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, the Dixie Chicks, Kid Rock, Kevin James (The King of Queens), Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), and Diana Krall. Critically acclaimed and immensely popular, actor-comedian Jon Stewart will host the Grammy Awards for the second consecutive year.
We hear that the odds favour Alicia Keys for the top slot. She’s the “It Girl” of music. Her debut album, Songs In A Minor, has already reached triple-platinum status and spawned blockbuster Number One hits. This year she has six nominations for the Grammy. At the 2002 American Musical Awards, Keys was honoured with six nominations. In the 2001 Billboard Music Awards, she garnered seven nominations and walked away with the Female New Artist of The Year Award.
In 1998, Keys signed with Arista Records to continue the process of writing, producing, and recording the debut that she was working on since the age of 14.
In late 1999, Keys decided to join Clive Davis, the high-profile recording executive responsible for the success of Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, and Santana, and his new record label, J Records.
Keys saw this as an opportunity to grow, and Davis, being the legendary record mogul that he is, has been relentlessly hyping the piano-playing prodigy ever since. Alicia Keys was born of Italian and African-American parentage, and raised in Manhattan. Her mother encouraged her to take up piano lessons from the age of five, and the piano eventually became one of her true passions in life. Alicia’s stock will skyrocket when the remake of A Star Is Born becomes reality.
By K. Satyamurty
Hindu On Net