Inside the costume department - the dazzling designs of Jewels (The Royal Ballet) 

Allan Watkins takes us through the dazzling details of the costumes for Balanchine's ballet Jewels. Find out more at: www.roh.org.uk/...
Jewels was first performed by The Royal Ballet in 2007, and is now celebrating its 50th year since its first performance in 1967.
Despite being inspired by the glitter of the stones in the window of Van Cleef & Arpels, the famous New York jewellers, Balanchine himself noted that the ballet had 'nothing to do with jewels' except for the dancers' costumes. It is a pure celebration of dance, choreography, and music - the jewels are there to 'make a point' - to be looked at and noticed, and to give the ballet its title.
Originally designed by Barbara Karinska, who worked closely with Balanchine, the costumes in each act refer to a different period of ballet history. Allan Watkins, who is supervising the recreation of Karinska's work, takes us through the intricacies of these amazing costumes - which can take up to two weeks to fit for each dancer -from the longer skirts of French Romantic ballets, to the more revealing (skirt-less) Hollywood period, and the shorter, softer tutus of the ballets of Imperial Russia.