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

The Sally Bowles costume doesn't duplicate what Liza Minnelli wore in the movie, but it is in keeping with the Weimar era. The costume is just beautiful; it's tasteful and sexy. It looks period but it also dances and breathes--it fulfills the requirements brilliantly.

AMANDA MCKERROW (principal dancer, American Ballet Theatre): Nikiya, La Bayadere. American Ballet Theatre. Staged by Natalie Makarova after Petipa. Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge

I guess I would have to say the costume from the snake scene in Act I. It's gauzy silk chiffon, harem pants and, in some productions, a bare midriff--maybe someone didn't want us showing our tummies, so ours have netting. There's a long turban with a scarf, and beautiful, intricate beading--I had an I Dream of Jeannie fantasy when I was a kid, so it's great. It's very comfortable, although at one point I do a tour jete to one knee, and I cut up my knee pretty badly the first time because I didn't move the beading out of the way.

It's a very exotic look for a woman: Indian, period, glamorous, fun. The minute you put it on, you feel like the character. She's very passionate and very simple but righteous in her beliefs, and will stand up to any threat to them. She cannot be swayed or bribed or turned away, and I love that and believe in.

YVONNE MARCEAU (co-artistic director, American Ballroom Theater): The Countess, Grand Hotel. Choreography: Tommy Tune, with ballroom sequences by Marceau and Pierre Dulaine. Costumes: Santo Loquasto

I wore two costumes In Grand Hotel, but my favorite was the black one that we did the bolero in. You didn't even know you were wearing it--you didn't have to think about it. It was made out of black polyester that looked very much like silk, floor length, with a kind of cowl neck, cut low to the back with straps fanning out across the back and bugle beading at the hips and collar.

We knew it would be for a late-evening scene, and it was kind of a cross between a nightgown and an evening gown. It wasn't as flashy as the other one--it's the kind of cut that you see a lot--but it was special because it was perfect. We mostly did adagios and lifts, and it was astounding because it didn't get in the way, and I never tripped on it. We did between 1,100 and 1,200 performances--I went through three copies of the dress but the first one was the best. I always felt a foot taller. It was the perfect combination of elegance and simplicity.

BENJAMIN PIERCE (principal dancer, San Francisco Ballet): Night. San Francisco Ballet. Choreographer: Julia Adam. Costumes: Benjamin Pierce

I collaborated with Julia Adam on Night; Matthew Pierce, my brother, did the music, and I designed the sets and costumes. The costumes were engineered by my very good friend Ann Beck--I have a sewing machine, but I don't sew.

The ballet is a dream sequence for a woman, and the costumes are for creatures in her dream. The costumes were a dark blue. The men wore unitards with "gills"--organza ruffles down the side of the leg. The women wore unitards with a half-skirt connected to the lower back that would web out. I wanted to get rid of negative and positive space on the stage--I started by shredding nylon into hairs and gluing the hairs to the unitard. It was awful--it just looked like hair. Then I put organza-like spokes around the leg. The ruffles caught the light, creating a halo or ghosting effect. It worked; a lot of people thought it looked like something that came out of the ocean, and the organic, kind of watery movement went along with that. I knew, dancing onstage, that if I believed in it strongly enough, it would come through. Unfortunately, the costumes were really uncomfortable, because each pleat had to be sewn on separately. I went nuts over this project because I didn't know anything; it was a big experiment, but I loved it and I want to do more of it.