Esthers Royal Tour

I am Esther Lofley, costumier, designer and visual artist - and the Principal Costumier and Costume Manager at the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB). I am heading to the USA and Europe in 2019 to learn from colleagues in ballet companies and bring that deep and varied knowledge back to New Zealand.

I have dedicated the last eleven years to mastering my craft at the RNZB and I am one of a handful of artisans working at this level in this field in New Zealand.

At this point in my career, I want to take my knowledge to the next level by undertaking progressive professional development in the discipline of building costume for live performance.

The Project:

In order to undertake this research and knowledge-sharing experience, I must travel to other leading performing arts workshops. Contributions to my Boosted campaign will go towards travel costs and living expenses.

Where smaller New Zealand workrooms encourage generalisation, the scale and number of New Zealand workrooms allows for the development of extremely specialised craftspeople and professionals with very specific knowledge. I am in a unique position with my broad knowledge where I will be able to work alongside specialists in numerous fields.

I will work with costume makers who are experts in their particular craft, i.e. pattern drafting, millinery, tutu construction, tailoring, and dyeing, to name a few!

I have made strong connections with leading New Zealand companies, having networked extensively with visiting choreographers, directors and costume doyens. I have a list of invitations and am building on existing relationships to find placements at leading New Zealand workrooms.

As well as the skills of costume making, I will also pay close attention to the way other costume departments are run to see if the RNZB and other kiwi workrooms can learn from the ways of working that develop in environments where there are more staff.

I will document my trip from both a technical perspective and by sharing my personal experiences and stories from my travels with everyone who enables me to undertake this project.