In a bustling costume studio in early November, nearly every corner of the space was dedicated to George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. Tables overflowed with fabric swatches and sketches; mannequins displayed half-finished tutus, their sequins catching the afternoon light; and a principal’s hoop skirt waited for dozens of tiny bells to be sewn on by hand. Amid the whirlwind, the Director of Costumes for the New York City Ballet, Marc Happel, moved with the ease of someone who has spent nearly two decades turning the ephemeral magic of ballet into tangible garments. “It’s our busiest time of year,” he said. “Even when you think you’ve perfected something, there’s always room to make it better.”
Before his 18 year tenure at the NYCB, Happel began his career in theater and the opera. He worked at the Metropolitan Opera, where the challenges of designing for singers were vastly different. “At the Met, it’s all about the throat,” he said. “You’re designing to make an older gentleman look like a young prince, or ensuring a costume doesn’t interfere with a singer’s projection. Ballet is an entirely different world—it’s about the body and how it moves.”
As Happel transitioned into ballet costume design, every element of a dancer’s performance became closely intertwined with the costume itself. “Proportion is everything,” Happel explained. In ballet, costumes don’t just serve an aesthetic purpose; they are integral to the dancer’s form and movement. Happel often designs with the intent to elongate the body, helping to create a more graceful, fluid line. “For example, a tutu might be designed to sit at a certain height or angle to accentuate a dancer’s posture,” he said. “Everything is about creating that visual harmony between the body and the fabric.”