storage, plus a welding shop, carpentry shop, paint shop and props shop. Logistically, setting the stage is complicated. Our director of production manages this process. We load everything from our Sca rboroug h production faci l ity t o t h e Fo u r S e a s o n s C e nt r e f o r t h e Performing Arts in downtown Toronto. We bring our own lighting, staging and equipment, piece by piece. We transport anywhere from five to 13 trailers of equipment at one time. What the departments create is nothing short of spectacular. We used to stage tours around the production facility, and I remember how ma ny v isitors were floored at the process and the details, once they were up close to a tree or the layers upon layers of tulle in a tutu. That’s what I love and what I find daily inspiration from in my work: understanding (and respecting!) all the infinitesimal details that go into creating a stage, a scene or a costume. If someone can watch a performance and appreciate it for its grandeur and beauty, then we’ve done our jobs right. We’re making dreams happen on that stage, and what job is better than that?”
S
K AROPHOTO (THE NUTCRACKER)
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etting the proverbial stage on a National Ballet of Canada production always starts with Karen Kain, our Artistic Director. She has a vision for the company, so she chooses the repertoire, along with the particular choreographers she wants to work with. The choreographers, in consultation with Karen, pick their own design team. These conversations happen well in advance of us seeing anything. From there, it becomes a collaborative effort. Each production has a dedicated design team that confers with the choreographer to decide what the show will look like. Next, the designs get presented to us — a ma ssive depa r tment that includes myself, our head carpenter, head scenic artist, electricians, props department, director of production, wardrobe, @SeeTorontoNow
@SeeTorontoNow
rental coordinators, seamstresses and our costuming department. The design team supplies us with as much background information, reference materials and inspiration as they can, so we can brainstorm concepts and get to work. In the case of Alice in Wonderland, for example, the team specifically wanted to work with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, so that was a base point from which we started to build the narrative and look of the production. There are a lot of questions and back and forth. Depending on the size of the production, we typically have three to 12 months to create the sets. Up a t o u r p r o d u c t i o n f a c i l i t y i n Scarborough, we have a full-time staff of seven, plus me and any additional staff we recruit, such as union welders and carpenters. We have about 65 productions in
YVETTE DRUMGOLD
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION, THE NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA
Established in 1951, The National Ballet of Canada presents classical ballets by the world’s most celebrated 20th- and 21st-century masters—about 10 productions each year. Here’s how backstage artists like Yvette Drumgold, associate director of production, create sets worthy of the country’s finest dancers.
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