Olga
Two Sketches
PITTSFIELD, MA and TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – Ms. Olga Dumova, Russian costume designer and graduate of the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, took time away from her position in Tel Aviv, Israel at the famed Gesher Theatre to speak with me about her newest designs. She is currently creating four new character costumes for Moscow Ballet’s 2009 Great Russian Nutcracker tours. The costumes depict Ded Moroz (Grandfather Winter, Russia’s equivalent to Santa Claus) and Snegurochka (Snow Maiden, Ded Moroz’s daughter).
What do you remember most vividly about Ded Moroz and Snow Maiden when you were a child?
I guess it is quite similar in Russia as it is in America. When I was a child I believed that Ded Moroz brought many wonderful presents. Every year, we found presents under our tree.
Some years, parents invited him to come to the house. When he couldn’t come to the house, we went to public events with contests to see who could win presents.
It was always the biggest cause for excitement and holiday in Russia, and for me it was the same. Now that I am older, it is still very important, but of course it has changed for me since I was a child.
In my early years of school, there was a day when we came to school in costumes near Christmas. We came with costumes depicting characters from fairy tales. My grandmother helped me with my costume. She and I did it together. The togetherness was part of the holiday. Once I won a prize for one of my costumes. It was a magical butterfly costume. Working with my grandmother for my school costumes was my first experience with costuming.
My grandmother is a tailor. She is not working professionally, but she loves to do it for herself. As a child, I loved to work with her sewing machine. She helped me to make clothes for myself and my dolls. From her, I had a huge interest in design of clothes. From a very young age I was thinking about designing costumes for my dolls.
Have you applied your childhood memories to the creation of these costumes?
For sure, my impression of what the characters look like is coming from childhood. It is not a clear picture, just an impression. I am also using my experience in theatre design and including classical Russian cultural elements with these designs.
Have you worked on a project like this before, either in class or professionally?
I did, but it was much more simple. The costumes were not for the theatre. They were for artists for a public event. This project is very different because the costumes are more spectacular and elaborate.
What is the most important lesson you learned throughout your very impressive education?
A very important lesson is that you can draw everything, but you cannot make everything. It is very important that you not only know how to draw the costume, but that you are also thinking about how you will be making it. My master says that everything can be on the paper, but not everything can come to life. It is very important to imagine how it will be… which fabrics, which decorations.
How do you select fabrics? Is there a certain quality that you look for? What about colors for the stage?
The quality is very important. We use a different type of material for the theatre. You have to picture how it will look from the stage.
It is also important to think of the fabrics that you do not see from the seats in the theatre. You have to know of these materials, the ones to use underneath the fabrics you will see to give the costumes shape and support.
Colors have to be much more strong than in “real life.” You see it from a distance, under the lights. The colors must be intense. In real life, you do not want to see people in these colors near you. It is too much. On the stage, it is a different story. The colors used here are very common winter colors. The blues, decorated with silvers and shiny holiday-look fabrics make it feel like winter.
Which company have you worked for that makes you most proud? What was the project?
For the Bolshoi, I did a project working with costumes from the beginning of the 20th century. They were very old. I was able to see how costumes were made 100 years ago. I tried to keep the same look and feel, but also made it more comfortable for today’s standards. The costumes were made lighter in weight and easier to wear.
Every job is interesting from different points of view. It is very hard to say which is better than the next. Even some very small productions are interesting because I have the chance to create something more new, more original.
What is interesting to you about working with the costumes of Ded Moroz and Snegurochka?
They are fantasy characters. I have the freedom to combine my personal impression of these characters and also put in some knowledge about theatre costumes and the Russian traditions of costumes.
It is interesting to combine theatre, fairy tale, and Russian tradition. It is everything together and very complete. I like very much that it is fantasy characters so you can use your imagination. I am not always allowed to do this, because often there are historical points that have to be followed exactly.
