Event Complete 8/2008

LaGrange Daily News
When the dancers in Lafayette Ballet Company take the stage Friday night for the opening of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” they will be garbed in the fruits of the imagination of Nancy Gell, artistic director of the ballet. Most people know Gell as a passionate teacher, but many don’t know about the hundreds of hours she puts into every production. Gell chooses all the music, designs the sets, selects the backdrops, choreographs and stages the ballet, designs the costumes, hires a technical crew and casts the show. She also makes schedules and brings in guest artists.

“Now, I have a lot of people helping me,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s not just me.”

However, it is her vision and creativity that puts the magic into every production. And the costuming for “Midsummer” was a special joy for her, she said, especially the fairy garb.

“I wanted fabrics that would be sheer, sparkle and have a soft luster in order to create a diaphanous, dreamy, fantasy quality,” she said.

But, there is one thing that Gell does for every production that is her special gift to her dancers. She makes every beaded headpiece worn in every show.

“I love being in a creative mode, and the beading for the headpieces allows me to think while keeping my hands busy,” she said. “Often, I think about the girl I am designing the headpiece for and the role she is dancing, and this stimulates thoughts about how to bring something out in her dancing while working with her in classes and rehearsals.”

The work has a more practical result as well.

“It helps keep me calm, I think mostly because there is a tangible result,” she said.

For the 12 fairy headpieces in “Midsummer,” Gell said she was thinking outside the usual Disney view of fairies.

“I was very fixated on the realm of ‘fairie,’ more along the lines of the elves in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and the Celtic legends,” she said. “So, I kept seeing a medieval circlet design in my head. I drew several versions of this, settled on my favorite and then made a prototype.”

She purchases her leads from several sources, including discount stores as well as internet sites, where she can get the more unusual sizes and colors. She said she started making the headpieces in mid-February and finished them the first of April. Each headpiece took about 24 hours to create, she said.

Why does she spend so much time on such intricate costume pieces? It’s all for her dancers, she said.

“I love the look on a girl’s face the first time she puts on her headpiece,” she said. “They say it makes them feel beautiful and like a ‘real’ dancer. It’s really magical.”

The Lafayette Ballet presents William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Troup High School’s fine arts auditorium. Tickets at $15 for adults and $12 for senior citizens and students for reserved seating; and $12 for adults and $8 for senior citizens and students for senior citizens and students are available at Lafayette Society for Performing Arts, 214 Bull St., Artists in Residence and Hill Street House.