Dressed and impressed: a selection of well-known professional dancers from different genres and eras recall the costumes they liked best and what made them great - ballet United States

Dance Magazine, Oct, 2002 by Heather Wisner

CHARLES ASKEGARD (principal dancer, New York City Ballet): Scotch Symphony. New York City Ballet. Choreographer: George Balanchine. Costumes: Karinska

Scotch Symphony Is one of my favorite ballets--it's got great music. It's kind of a love story, a pas de deux between a Scotsman and a sylph. I wear a fluffy white shirt, a black velvet jacket, and a has a big black feather in it--it's kind of silly, but I like it. There's red-and-black-checkered beret-type hat, although it's not a beret. It has a big black feather in it--it's kind of silly, but I like it. There are black tights and a red sash across the front in Scottish plaid--it has traditional Scottish flair. The jacket's a little hot, but very comfortable. Of course, the costume has to fit properly, and leotards and tights are the most comfortable thing to dance in, but I like how a costume looks and how I feel in it. This costume and the sets make me feel like a highlander--there are hilly slopes with a castle in the background. It's a fairy tale but it ends happily--there's no tragedy involved. I've danced it with Kyra Nichols and for Margaret Tracey's retirement and it's always been a nice time out onstage.

ANITA PACIOTTI (principal character dancer, San Francisco Ballet): Carabosse, The Sleeping Beauty. San Francisco Ballet. Choreography: Helgi Tomasson. Costumes: Jens-Jacob Worsaae

A great costume Is one that helps you create your role--Carabosse is that way. There's a great contrast between acting as evil as you can and looking quite proud and glamorous. There's a cloak, modeled after the cloaks in the Prologue, that you attach at the neck, with snaps down the front. It's a very fine tulle, with fur and gold strips of ribbon and shiny bits that sparkle. It's very comfortable--I call it Cher's peignoir. Carabosse is sort of birdlike--she has blackbird servants--and there are lots of feathers on the headpiece. It's a fun role, and disappearing in a cloud of smoke isn't bad either.

The costume was made for two people: Jim Sohm and me. We wore the same everything except for the leotard, which was fine, although he's much taller than I am, and the cape was hard for me to manage. Between that and the spindle there were challenges. You have to have the spindle concealed in the cloak and take it out with inch-long nails. Fabric is notorious for misbehaving and props have a mind of their own. I'd get the cape tangled or completely wrapped around my feet and almost fall down the stairs. I had my ring fly across the room. When Muriel Maffre danced Carabosse, she threw the spindle down and it stuck in the linoleum.

ANN REINKING (Broadway dancer--Fosse, Pippin, Chicago): Sally Bowles, "Mein Herr" number from Cabaret (in Fosse). Choreography: Bob Fosse. Costumes: Santo Loquasto

I've worked with William Ivey Long, Willa Kim, Pat Birch, Patricia Ziprodt, and Santo Loquasto. They've all worked in dance; they've done theater and plays. They enjoy what people actually wore, or they evoke what people really wore using modern materials and their imagination. It's really hard trying to get the best of both worlds, but Santo is brilliant at it. They have a real interest in fantasy and illusion, and the otherworldly feel of dance, and on top of that, they're all nice. In working with them, I've become interested in what makes a skirt fly out when you dance. I've done restoration plays where everything was real, and now I know why women fainted all the time.