Found 1 collection related to Nutcracker (Choreographic work)

Costume and set designer Carl Michna Michel was born April 3, 1928. A former resident of Canyon, Texas, he was a graduate of Yale University School of Drama and also studied in Europe. Michel designed and executed costumes for theatre productions, later gravitating to designing costumes almost exclusively for the ballet. Michel designed costumes for some 17 ballets for Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1973 to 1990, also designing sets for a number of them; Michel also co-authored (with Arthur Mitchell) the scenario for the company's production of Giselle (1984). He became production supervisor for Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1985. Michel designed costumes for over 15 other ballet companies and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades and United Scenic Artists. He died Nov. 12, 2004. Collection includes approximately 750 original designs, primarily costume designs, but also set designs, photographs, blueprints, and set model pieces by Carl Michel, for over 50 ballets and 8 theater productions. Many of the designs are for works by Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1973 to 1995. Their stage and television productions of Giselle (1984 and 1987) are especially well documented and include Michel's extensive research papers, in addition to his costume and set designs, and set models. The Joplin dances (Dance Theatre of Harlem, 1995) and various productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake are also well represented. Dancers for whom Michel designed include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Erik Bruhn, William Cratty, Gelsey Kirkland, Patricia McBride, Peter Martins, Natalia Makarova, Violette Verdy, Edward Villella, and other performers such as opera singers Galina Vishnevskaya and Klara Barlow. There are also numerous costume designs for Hartford Ballet Company productions. less