The assembly line principle is not applicable in our work. “Measurements are taken from everyone, and if the costume is complex, we definitely make a mock-up. “All of the performers, choir singers, corps de ballet dancers and supernumeraries, have their costumes made individually, taking into account the personal characteristics of their bodies,” emphasizes the head of the Costume Shop. This is the drapers’ and patternmakers’ job. For example, Indian brocade for the costumes for the national opera Alpamys was woven on the 19th century looms.Ĭreating the patterns for each garment is the next stage in the costumes’ creation process. If a suitable one is not available, the materials are purchased.”Įxclusive fabrics sometimes have to be ordered from afar. “The opera house has its own warehouse where you can pick up fabrics, trimmings, ribbons, braid and much more. “When the designer brings us his or her sketches for complete sets of costumes, the selection of suitable fabrics begins,” Fatima Satybaldina, head of the Costume Shop, says. For example, Ancient Egyptian motifs are represented in Verdi’s opera Aida, a mix of traditional Turkic vestments – in Yerkegali Rakhmadiyev’s Alpamys, and the luxury and splendor of the 18th century – in Rossini’s La Scala di Seta.Ĭostumes for ballet productions require even more attention to detail, since in addition to external characteristics, it is especially important to take into account comfort, freedom of movement, and the breathability of fabrics. As the popular saying goes, “clothes make the man”.Īstana Opera’s repertoire features productions from different eras. This is because the appearance, before anything else, forms the audience’s opinion about the person onstage. When designing a costume for a production, the costume designer takes into account the historical period and region where the events are set, the social status and personal characteristics of the hero for whom the costume will be made, as well as many other important points. Working in close contact with these and other well-known designers certainly helps the Costume Shop’s craftsmen to raise the level of professionalism, open up new creative horizons and gain invaluable experience. There is a productive and longstanding collaboration with the creative tandem of the Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Sofya Tasmagambetova and Pavel Dragunov. Among them is the Academy Award winner Franca Squarciapino, who designed the costumes for a number of productions staged in the capital’s opera house.

The costume designer, based on his or her own vision, creates a sketch, which subsequently must be brought to life by the Costume Shop.įor all these years, its employees had an opportunity to work with famous foreign and Kazakh costume designers. The idea, laid down by the author describing his hero and picked up by the stage director, becomes the starting point for the formation of the character interpretation onstage. Often it is a real work of art, created by many specialists. A theatrical costume is not just regular clothing.

La opera costume shop