The Nutcracker: From page to stage

Putting together a full-scale ballet production is no mean feat - in fact the creation of Christopher Hampson and Gerald Scarfe's production of The Nutcracker began in March 2002, nine months before it opened at the Coliseum in London.

From the outset Gerald and Christopher worked closely together, meeting frequently to discuss Scarfe's drawings, ideas for colours and textures and the main themes of the production.

Stage one of the design process was the creation of drawings and colour designs by Gerald for the costumes. Once these had been completed, Gerald visited the Wardrobe Department at English National Ballet on a daily basis, talking to each member of staff about the role that he or she would play in realising his designs for The Nutcracker . He worked directly with Fizz Jones (Production Supervisor) for the costumes and Al Riches (Technical Director) for the set, as well as with Amelia Carrington (Wig Mistress), Julie Heggie (Shoe Supervisor), Gerry Tiernan (Buyer), Symone Frost (Dyer), Janet Comber (Cutter) and lots of makers from all over the UK.

Working on the costumes for The Nutcracker was more demanding than creating traditional-style costumes, because a lot of the designs involved exciting, new shapes and ideas which meant exploring new techniques that would enable the team to bring these ideas to life. Once Gerald and Fizz had discussed this, Gerry Tiernan searched all over London for samples of different types of fabric that were available and seemed suitable. The chosen fabrics had to look right and also be washable and preferably not synthetic, as the costumes can get very sweaty. From these, fabrics were selected and allocated to the various designs. The selections often changed during the initial stages of the design process for reasons of practicality and availability - some fabrics were customised by dying and printing, pleating or bonding, embroidering and embellishing, in order to achieve the desired finish to the fabric.

The next stage was to present the designs, with the suggested fabrics, to Christopher and Gerald to ensure that they corresponded with their vision. On approval, costume designs were allocated to particular makers, taking into account their areas of expertise, production levels and staffing. A detailed costing for the whole production was then produced to ascertain feasibility within the confines of the budget. Once calculated, the makers were formally commissioned and deadlines and budgets fixed.

Planning was central to the success of the production schedule, as it was necessary to co-ordinate between 20 to 30 makers, using hundreds of metres of fabric, ordered from all over Europe and the UK. Some individuals made only one costume - for example the enormous (and complicated) Bishop's Wife costume - whilst other makers worked in teams to produce several costumes.

There was more hand painting in this production than in any other ballet in the Company's repertoire - each costume had to be dyed or painted by Symone Frost. Once completed, the fabric was cut to the individual costume lengths to make 235 costumes for 71 dancers. Each costume needed 2 to 3 fittings per dancer and each fitting, on average, took 20 minutes, which makes a total of over 200 hours spent in fittings which had to be scheduled around rehearsals and even took place at venues across the country whilst the Company was on tour.

Every costume is like a couture garment. Firstly, a paper pattern is created. Then a calico base fitting is made to ensure that the costume is fitted to the individual's measurements. This is followed by the making of a prototype and an initial fitting. Between the prototype fittings and the final costume there can be many changes in the style or construction, due to the designer's constantly evolving vision and the need for the dancers to be able to move freely. At the final fitting stage, decoration is added where required and trim is placed on the costume body.

Head (in this case Mouse heads), headdress and mask prototypes also need to be tried on for scale, practicality and to ensure that they match to the rest of the costume, as they are often produced by different makers.

Jewellery, tights, shoes and wigs are added to the basic costume to complete the character. Julie Heggie, ENB's full-time Shoe Supervisor, was responsible for providing the hundreds of shoes for the cast of The Nutcracker , which meant co-ordinating fittings, ordering new shoes (flat shoes, pointe shoes, character shoes and boots), re-dyeing some shoes from previous productions and commissioning makers. Julie worked closely with Gerald and Christopher to produce shoes in colours and fabrics that fitted in with the overall design of the production and worked with the demands of the choreography.

The Company's resident Wig Mistress, Amelia Carrington, co-ordinated all the hairstyles and wigs in the production. Gerald's concept for the wigs meant that they would be made out of unusual materials such as net and wool.

Finally, all costumes and accessories are brought together by the Wardrobe Department the weekend before the production opens. The definitive test is at the dress rehearsal when the costumes are danced in and are seen under the stage lighting for the first time. The makers and extra support staff are present at the dress rehearsals so any last minute alterations can be made during the day, as is often the case. The costumes are then passed to the 'touring wardrobe' - a team of four (at least eight extra staff are available when the Company is on tour) who look after the costumes during the performance season. They are responsible for assigning costumes to dancers, checking them every night and making repairs if necessary, as well as washing and drying the costumes for the next performance. Following the final performance the costumes are taken to the Company's store in Greenford, West London where they are repaired, cleaned and stored until they are needed again.