Lauren Jankowski's Blog, page 2

Favorite Ballets: The Winter’s Tale

In which I discuss my all-time favorite ballet: The Royal Ballet’s production of The Winter’s Tale.

Wanda Maximoff costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera House and are not driving any benefit from talking about them.

Recommended links for The Winter’s Tale

Streaming on Marquee TV (The Royal Ballet streamed the production with Ed Watson for a brief period of time on YouTube, which I was lucky enough to see)

Playlist of behind the scenes, making of, and clips

Rehearsal

Winter’s Tale (1 hour 20 minutes, 2018, Fumi Kaneko, “Hermione”; Tierny Heap, “Paulina”; Akane Takada, “Perdita”)

Making Ballet Wanda Maximoff: From Page to Reality

Wanda Maximoff was perhaps the easiest character to figure out a ballet interpretation of. Her costume in the finale of WandaVision is pretty theatrical and a little reminiscent of some dance costumes.

When Karolina showed me the preliminary sketch, it was exactly what I had been picturing. The material is light and swishy. Even though the skirt is much longer than I’m used it, it’s weightless and allows for easy movement (not to mention dramatic pictures).

For the helm, Carol cleverly combined the helm from the finale of WandaVision and the Scarlet Witch’s classic helm. The classic helm is much sturdier (which will make it easier to travel with, should I choose to wear this at a con).

Ruby red Swarovski crystals give it the special glisten, which all the Ballet Marvel helms have.

(I know I say this about all the helms, but I really love this helm. It’s so sparkly and pretty).

Wanda Maximoff preliminary sketch and costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff helm sketch and helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff Photoset 2

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“You, Vision, are the piece of the Mind Stone that lives in me. You are a body of wires and blood and bone that I created. You are my sadness and my hope. And mostly you’re my love.” ~ Wanda Maximoff, WandaVision

“Thanks for the lesson. But I don’t need you to tell me who I am.” ~ Wanda Maximoff, WandaVision

Wanda Maximoff costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Favorite Dancers: Edward Watson

Discussing another one of my absolute favorite dancers: Edward Watson of the Royal Ballet

Wanda Maximoff costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera House and are not driving any benefit from talking about them.

Recommended Links for Edward Watson

Royal Opera House Page: http://www.roh.org.uk/people/edward-watson
Personal Website
Royal Ballet Flickr
Edward Watson Instagram

Videos – Performances

The Winter’s Tale – Leontes (This is perhaps the best portrayal of jealousy that I have ever seen in any medium)
The Winter’s Tale – Act I Trial scene (The focus of this one is more on Hermione, but he’s in it a little bit.)
Clips from Mayerling
Mayerling Bedroom Pas de Deux
Woolf Works – Orlando pas de deux
Monotones II – Pas de Trois
Infra – Final duet

Videos – Rehearsals

Romeo & Juliet sword fight
Mayerling Masterclass
Song of the Earth
Monotones II
24 Preludes
Woolf Works
Another Woolf Works Rehearsal clip (starts at 1:13:12)
Carbon Life
Tetractys – The Art of Fugue
Ed Watson coaches dancers in Romeo and Juliet rehearsal (2019; starts at 1:17 and goes to 32:55)

Videos – Interviews and Other

Edward Watson: dancing ballet’s darkest roles
Insights: Edward Watson on Becoming a Principal Dancer
Edward Watson Principal Dancer at the Royal Ballet
Edward Watson and Wayne McGregor (From my best friend: “This one’s really good.”)
Preparing for Mayerling
Ballet vs Theater: Two different interpretations of Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale
Christopher Wheeldon, Joby Talbot and Edward Watson on the Winter’s Tale
Creating Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The Royal Ballet artists on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Mayerling Costumes
Edward Watson accepting his Wing Men of the Year Culture Award
Edward Watson and Wendy Whelan on Whelan/Watson: Other Stories
de La Cuona new Studio Collection featuring Edward Watson
Edward Watson ‘In Rehearsal’ (see the article below)
Itziar Mendizabal and Edward Watson THE ROYAL BALLET (partially in Spanish)
CNN feature on Men in Motion at London Coliseum (From my best friend: “I freely acknowledge that I mostly included this for the clip of Ed Watson dancing as Spider Man.  Other than that and some other clips of him dancing, I’m not sure about this one.  It might not be worth including.” From me: “Ed Watson dancing as Spiderman is always worth including.”)
The Metamorphosis – Interview
Edward Watson: Kafka’s Metamorphosis
Inside the Royal Ballet Healthcare Suite
O2 Romeo & Juliet Blog 1 and Blog 2
Opera, Ballet, and the Bard (Lauren Cuthbertson and Ed Watson, “Hermione & Leontes”)
Performing at the closing ceremonies at the London Olympics

Articles

Royal Ballet Stars on Roles They Dream of Dancing
Edward Watson to retire as a Royal Ballet’s principal dancer and other company’s end-of-Season announcements
The Royal Ballet’s Edward Watson: ‘It’s not normal to do this to your body – but it is possible’
Portrait of the artist: Edward Watson, dancer
Portrait of a dancer
Edward Watson: this is what ballet does to your body
Edward Watson (in rehearsal)
Prince Charles celebrates the Royal Ballet’s Principal dancer Edward Watson
Edward Watson to retire as Royal Ballet principal dancer
Edward Watson & the way into MacMillan
The ballet dancers growing old gracefully
Royal Ballet dancer fed up with critic’s references to his ginger hair
Edward Watson awarded MBE for services to dance

Photos

Honest Photographs that Show the “Sweat, Blood, and Repetition” behind the Royal Ballet
Giant leap off stage: farewell to the Royal Ballet’s stunning Edward Watson – in pictures

Wanda Maximoff Photoset 1

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“But what is grief, if not love persevering?” ~ Vision, WandaVision

“A family is forever. We could never truly leave each other, even if we tried.” ~ Wanda Maximoff, WandaVision

Wanda Maximoff costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Introduction: Wanda Maximoff

The introduction to week five’s character: Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch. Wanda Maximoff is one of my recent favorite characters. I really connected with her experience of grief, as I discuss in this video.

Wanda Maximoff costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Wanda Maximoff helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

As mentioned in the video, special thanks to Elizabeth Olsen, who does an extraordinary job portraying Wanda Maximoff. She allows Wanda to be complicated and messy on occasion. Olsen fearlessly tackled Wanda’s grief and it gave the character such an incredible amount of depth. She was the perfect actress for this role.

Wanda Maximoff week is dedicated to Jason Gutierrez (Instagram) and Jonathan Allen (Instagram), who are always a joy to see at cons. Jason was also kind enough to recommend a ton of graphic novels/comics to help me really understand the character of Wanda. It took me a while to warm up to the character, but after reading about her, I couldn’t not include her in Ballet Marvel. She’s amazing.

Captain Marvel Bow

That’s a wrap on Captain Marvel week! This was incredibly fun and worth the rain of glitter I trailed just about everywhere I wore this costume. Hopefully those of you following this project enjoyed this week

Tomorrow, a new character takes the stage.

Special thanks to Brie Larson (Instagram) for bringing Carol Danvers to life on the big screen and for brilliantly playing a character who always gets back up. I can’t wait to see her next outing as Carol Danvers. Thank you to Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Instagram) for bringing Carol Danvers story to the screen and thank you to Nia DaCosta for continuing that story. It’s really awesome to have such a badass woman superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Captain Marvel week has been dedicated to Gene Ha (Instagram), one of the most talented artists I know. Thank you to him for the encouragement. Give him a like and a follow, show him some love. You won’t be disappointed.

Captain Marvel week has also been dedicated to my wonderful mother, who doesn’t entirely understand my creative endeavors but supports it nonetheless (she supports whatever makes me happy).

Captain Marvel costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Captain Marvel helm by Carol Datura Riot, the Potions Mistress (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Favorite Ballets: Jewels

In which I discuss a ballet I hope to see one day: Jewels.

Nebula costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Nebula helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera House and are not driving any benefit from talking about them.

Jewels Recommended Links

Streaming on Marquee TV (Mariinsky Ballet)

Playlist of behind the scenes, making, and clips

Rehearsals

2017 Long Rehearsal* (1 hour 11 minutes, 2017, Sarah Lamb, Steven McRae, “Rubies”; Marianela Nuñez, Thiago Soares, “Diamonds”)
Rubies* (6 minutes, 2017, Sarah Lamb, Steven McRae)
Diamonds* (8 minutes, 2017, Marianela Nuñez, Thiago Soares)

Making Ballet Captain Marvel: From Page to Reality

Captain Marvel was a fun costume to design. It was much easier to figure out than Gamora and Nebula, though I didn’t expect so much glitter (and I’m not complaining).

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When Karolina first showed me the preliminary sketch, I was over the moon. It was gorgeous and almost exactly what I was picturing. Except for one small detail: I wanted some kind of homage to Carol’s glowing appearance when she goes binary. I was thinking some kind of shiny metallic looking material as a trim.

Karolina was the one who said, “Hey, what if I tried to sew lights into the gold bits?”

Um, yes please!

She went to work and got a bunch of Christmas lights. The end result is stunning! (I absolutely loved the inclusion of the Captain Marvel star on the side).

For the helm, Carol once again took inspiration from the ballet I was going to be talking about during Captain Marvel week: Jewels.

I knew this was going to be one of my favorite helms. I just loved the design (and how Carol worked in Captain Marvel’s star). The glisten on the Captain Marvel helm is truly gorgeous.

These two designs came together to create a truly stunning costume, which I could not be happier with.

Captain Marvel preliminary sketch and costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Captain Marvel helm sketch and helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Captain Marvel Photoset 2

“I’ve been fighting with one hand tied behind my back. But what happens when I’m finally set free?” ~ Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel

“I have nothing to prove to you.” ~ Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel Costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)

Captain Marvel Helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)