HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2014-02-19, Page 1414 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Festival talent designed and constructed Olympians' costumes
Laura Cudworth
QMI Agency
When ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver
and Andrew Poje step out on the ice to
represent Canada in Sochi on Sunday
morning two cutters at the Stratford
Festival will be holding their breath.
Terri Dans and Margaret Lamb con-
structed their costumes which were
designed by Debra Hanson and will be
seen by millions of people around the
world at the Olympics.
"I can't watch it now because I'm ter-
rified she'll have a wardrobe malfunc-
tion and it will be the difference
between a medal or not so I'll watch
after," Lamb said.
Dans and Lamb are experienced
members of the wardrobe team. They've
built costumes seen by thousands of
people that must stand up night after
night for months, but Weaver and Poje
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"They travel at such a speed and
they're spinning, you don't see
how much abuse costumes get
until you see the stills," Lamb said.
"And they're lifted in weird ways. I
think they look really great but I'm
just so nervous every time there's
a lift."
There are no back up costumes
either so a rip is serious business.
The connection between the
skaters and the theatre world was
made through actor Geoffrey
Tyler. He has done the choreogra-
phy for Weaver and Poje.
Coincidentally, the short pro-
gram is from 42nd Street, a musi-
cal the Festival produced for the
2012 season and a production
Lamb and Dans worked on just
before taking on the ice dancers.
Weaver and Poje aren't under
the same scrutiny as their Cana-
dian teammates and defending
gold medalists Tessa Virtue and
Scott Moir but no doubt they feel
the weight of the country's hopes
on their shoulders too.
Scott Wished QM! Agency
Terri Dans and Margaret Lamb constructed the Debra Hanson -designed
costumes worn by Canadian ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje
at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
It's not just the skaters under
intense scrutiny either. The beau-
tiful electric blue dress Weaver
wears for their short program is
the second attempt. The first dress,
a blue sequin number, didn't
make the cut. This second dress
did get raves. Their long program
is a tango and the costumes for
that are elegant.
The pair were training in Detroit
so Dans and Lamb had to travel
there for the first fitting in late
August.
"The fittings went really well
considering we didn't measure
them—her mother did," Dans
said.
The deadline was tight to get
those costumes done for the com-
petition season.
"I'm proud to see them out
there and it's nice to see your work
on a large scale," Dans said.
They also constructed the prac-
tice outfits for the skaters to wear
in Sochi just two weeks before
they left and have never seen them
on their bodies.
This isn't Dans' first trip around
the Olympic rings. She con-
structed some of the costumes for
the opening ceremonies, designed
by John Pennoyer, for the Vancou-
ver Olympics four years ago.
Look good on the dance floor with Ballroom Chic
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