Costume Drama: How to Breeze Through a Stressful Quick Change

Ahhh, quick changes. They’re part of every dancer’s backstage experience, and we all have horror stories: a missed cue, forgotten gloves, a dangling hairpiece that falls center stage. If you’re worried about a speedy costume transition this Nutcracker season, here are some pro-tips for changing as efficiently (and calmly) as possible.

Practice

Ariana Gonzalez, principal dancer at City Ballet of San Diego and the company’s associate artistic director, says the key to mastering quick changes is to practice. “Don’t wait until you’re at the theater to figure it out,” says Gonzalez, who only has about 30 seconds to change from Clara’s party-scene dress to her battle-scene nightgown in CBSD’s Nutcracker. “Practice it a few times in the studio if you can, so that it’s not overwhelming.”

Joamanuel Velázquez, a soloist with Texas Ballet Theater, agrees. “Repetition helps me the most, because you find the little things that help you speed up the process,” he says. “If you feel like you’re too close to the time when you have to be onstage, do it again.”

Prep, Preset, and Triple-Check

Philadelphia Ballet corps member Ashley Lewis says her most stressful Nutcracker costume change is going from party parent to snowflake. “We only have battle scene to do it, including shoes,” she says. “I’m old-fashioned—I use the regular ribbon instead of stretch ribbon, so I have to take the extra step of sewing them down so they don’t come out.”

Being organized helps. Lewis gets to the theater 40 minutes before company class to prepare for the show. “I’ll pick out the pair of shoes I’m wearing that day and my headpiece. I’ll even thread the needle for my pointe shoe ribbons ahead of time.”

Additionally, preset your costume and confirm who your dressers will be, whether they’re from the costume department or fellow dancers. “Before Act I even starts, I preset the nightgown, preset the candle, preset the bow,” says Gonzalez. “Then I check with my helpers—like, ‘Hey, you’re gonna be there, right?’ Even mid-party-scene, there’s a point where we go offstage and I make sure that the costume is still there.”

“Even little things help, like setting up your shoes so that they’re open, so you can just slide your feet in, or un-velcroing your gloves,” says Velázquez, whose quick change into the Rat King costume involves first climbing into a cumbersome suit of padding. Again, practice a few times—is it faster to leave that shirt back open or to pull it over your head zipped up, for instance? “Minor details like that can really go a long way in getting you back onstage as fast as possible.”

Find Your Ideal Changing Station

You can’t always choose where to change, but if you can, Gonzalez recommends setting your costumes and supplies near your next entrance. “You don’t want to be changing and then have to run all the way around to the other side of the stage.” Communicate with stagehands to make sure your changing area won’t be in the way of moving sets (and so they know not to move your stuff).

Lewis prefers to change in her dressing room, where the atmosphere is calmer. “The lighting’s better, too, because it’s dark onstage for battle scene.” She’s trained her ear to know what point in the music she needs to start heading to the stage.

Layer What You Can

Layering costume items can speed up the process. “Find what you can layer underneath without compromising the look,” says Velázquez. “If I can wear white tights under my black tights and they don’t show, then I can just take the black tights off and it saves time.”

Gonzalez recalls changing from party parent to snowflake while dancing with The Joffrey Ballet. “I wore snow’s white tights under my black tights. I even wore character shoes a half-size larger so that I could wear my toe pad [in between the tights]—that way I wasn’t fumbling around looking for it in the dark and could just shove my foot into the pointe shoe.”

Makeup, Jewelry, and Hair

“Makeup and hair can be a big part of a quick change,” says Velázquez, who notes that Texas Ballet Theater’s dressers are often scrubbing party-scene makeup off the men’s faces as they’re scrambling into soldier costumes. Make sure to set whatever supplies you need—makeup wipes, hair spray, brush, rubber bands, hairpins—at your changing station.

While small hairpieces can be quickly secured with bobby pins, sideburns and mustaches can be harder to glue or tape down. “I do both so that they will not move,” says Velázquez. “I pay the consequences later, because when the dresser rips it off my face, it hurts! But it’s worth it.”

And remember to take care of your jewelry—Lewis makes a point of taking out her large party-scene earrings first as she’s changing for snow scene so that she doesn’t forget.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Panicking during a quick change will only waste time. Lean on your dressers for help, but take time to ready yourself in advance. “If I start feeling anxious, I tell myself ‘You’ve got this, you’re prepared,’ ” says Gonzalez. “The more that you practice it, the more it’s just rinse-and-repeat once you get to the theater.”