Costume Parade

Today I had the privilege to check out what the dance costuming department calls the "Costume Parade". This is an event of sorts that happens closer to the performance for which they have been working on the costumes for. At the Costume Parade, they get together two separate days and have each of the dancers involved in the performance come together along with the directors of the performance to make sure they have all the pieces of their costumes and make sure there aren't any additional alterations needed.

Each of the dancers had their garment bags laid out on the edge of the large room, and pulled each costume set out so they had them ready to try on when the time came. With the dance costume shop team at the ready, the dancers tried on their costumes for their dance numbers in the order of the show. After they would line up so the team could make sure each dancer had each piece of their costume and check for alterations.

If there were pieces missing, they would make sure the dancer didn't have it in their garment bag and they would then make a note to make sure to include it in their garment bag after returning to the shop.

If there were alterations needed, the team would mark the necessary changes on the garment, for example a few dancers from a specific group needed their dresses hemmed. Then they would make a note on a tag with the dancer's name and the needed alterations, and attach it to the garment and add it to the alterations rack.

During this process, Sister Knight was heading all the notes and alterations, then the team would help make the needed adjustments. This made the process quicker so Julie could call out the necessary changes and the team would get to work.

Once this process was complete and both the dance costume shop and the dance team directors were satisfied, the dancers packed up their garment bags.

Some dancers had pieces in their garment bag that previously needed alterations from day one of the costume parade that they returned to their bags then delivered back to the costume shop in the back.

This keeps things organized for the dance costume shop so they have the older alterations that still need to be done, as well as the new ones on the alterations rack. Once the alterations are done, they move it over to the finished alterations side.

The Extravadance rehearsal is on Monday of this coming week, so things need to be pretty much done by then, alterations should be finished and all pieces should be put together. If any rips or tears or discovered flaws come up during the rehearsal, they have to be quickly dealt with before the final performances.