Somewhere a ballet aficcionado is waxing indignant at the idea that a prestigious ballet company should reduce itself to consorting with pop culture icons to gain the notice of an increasingly attention-deficited public. But Ballet West is proudly touting the use of its Swan Lake costumes in Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” music video — which, the company writes in a press release, “has been viewed on YouTube almost half a billion times.”
As the Deseret News has reported, Ballet West regularly rents out their costumes, created by Costume Production Director David Heuvel. Ballet West director Adam Skulte speculated that the 5-foot-10 Swift may have turned to Ballet West because they are considered the tallest ballet company in America.
Capitalizing on the attention of Swift’s music video, the company is bringing back their staging of Swan Lake for ten performances, beginning this Friday, February 6th.
In addition to those used in Swift’s video, you’ll see scores of costumes created by David Heuvel for this lavish production, including six new costumes and the dramatic swan costume for the wicked sorcerer “Von Rothbart,” with a wingspan of 15 feet.
Swan Lake runs at Ballet West February 6 – 15. Click here for tickets.
UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Categories: Dance
