Costume

Abstract

Dress is integral to the performance of ballet, carefully considered in the collaboration between the choreographer and the designer. This chapter offers a broad introduction to thinking about “costume” as a term that is reserved for and relates to garments used for performance. It examines contemporary ballet costume through the conventions evidenced in the component parts of garments while emphasizing a tradition of making. Uniform is used in the training of a dancer so that dress is embedded in bodily practice, becoming a symbiotic partner in the dance. Contemporary ballet abandoned the form of the classical tutu and features leotards, bare legs, and pointe shoes or canvas slippers, flattening the hierarchy and blurring the gender lines.