Behind the Scenes at the Cincinnati Ballet's Costume Shop

Behind the Scenes at the Cincinnati Ballet’s Costume Shop

October 9, 2015

This underground studio has been the domain of Wardrobe Mistress Diana Vandergriff-Adams since the Cincinnati Ballet moved into a former brewery in the late 1990s (and she’s been sewing costumes for the likes of the Ballet and the Cincinnati Opera since the early 1970s).

We paid a visit to Vandergriff-Adams and her team (which is actually just comprised of one other staffer, Wardrobe Assistant Laura Hoffman, who also happens to be Vandergriff-Adams’s daughter). They fitted some dancers to costumes for their October 2015 show, Lady of the Camellias, and showed us around their workspace.

Take a look at their tiny tutu kingdom:

The ballet's costume storage space, housed in a former brewery barrel cellar — The ballet’s costume storage space, housed in a former brewery barrel cellar. The lack of natural light might make the place feel like a bunker, but it’s perfect for preserving textiles and squirreling away delicate costumes.

A rack of costumes for Lady of the Camellias, on loan from the Boston Ballet

Wardrobe assistant Laura Hoffman fits a costume to soloist Maizyalet Velázquez — Wardrobe assistant Laura Hoffman fits a costume to Soloist Maizyalet Velázquez

_MG_2871 — Velázquez models the nightgown costume from *Lady of the Camellias*

Photographs by Evan Sgouris — Vandergriff-Adams adjusts Velázquez’s hem

Vandergriff-Adams is committed to costume quality—and dancer safety. “We never use glue for gems,” she says. “They can come off and if a dancer slips on one, that can be the end of a career.” To make sure all costumes materials are safe and secure, she and her staff spend hundreds of hours hand-sewing them.

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