Dressed for success

Courtesy artsBHAM

Wendy Gamble’s daughter, Elizabeth, knew from a young age she wanted to become a professional ballet dancer someday. 

“When you have children, you never know where they’ll take you,” Wendy Gamble said.

As a single parent supporting her child’s dream, Wendy Gamble knew she had to be proactive in “looking for ways to make that happen.”

When Elizabeth Gamble began performing with Alabama Ballet as a young community cast member, Wendy Gamble sought opportunities to be involved behind the scenes. Word got out that she could sew, and she took a position in Alabama Ballet’s costume shop.

“The costume director at the time, Betty Smith, took me under her wings and trained me,” she said. “During this time, we were building costumes for ‘George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,’ so there was an abundance to learn, along with an amazing group of women who helped give me confidence.”

While Wendy Gamble was training in the costume shop, Elizabeth Gamble began training at the Alabama Ballet School. Wendy Gamble’s work helped offset the cost of her daughter’s lessons. 

“Alabama Ballet very graciously allowed me to work in the shop and at shows to help cover her tuition and fees,” Wendy Gamble said. “I don’t know how I could have made that happen otherwise.”

Their hard work paid off. When Elizabeth Gamble graduated, Alabama Ballet offered her a job as a professional dancer, a dream come true. She is now in her seventh season with the company.

Along the way, Wendy Gamble found her own success. She was promoted to costume assistant in 2005, then costume director in 2006.

“Taking this job was the scariest thing I had ever done at the time, but it hasn’t turned out too badly,” Wendy Gamble said, laughing.

Wendy Gamble’s workplace, Alabama Ballet’s costume shop, is tucked away in the back of the company’s studios in downtown Birmingham. The quiet, but vibrant, space is filled with tulle, tutus, fabric, thread, ribbons, trim, buttons, pins, pointe shoes, ballets slippers and more. Presiding over everything is the watchful, if occasionally suspicious, eye of the shop cat, Ms. Priss, who Alabama Ballet Artistic Director Tracey Alvey rescued from an abandoned litter.

“We originally wanted to give her a ballerina name like Giselle,” Wendy Gamble said. “But Ms. Priss just stuck.” 

Upstairs in storage is a virtual forest of costumes in every color from pastels to jewel tones to earthy hues. The titles of famous ballets — “Cinderella,” “Coppélia,” “Romeo and Juliet” — designate certain rows. The collection includes a tutu once worn by ballet star Cynthia Harvey, former principal at American Ballet Theatre and The Royal Ballet, as well as Alvey’s “Giselle” costume from her career at London City Ballet (the costume was purchased before Alvey had any association with Alabama Ballet). 

Does Wendy Gamble have any favorites? “I have a huge soft spot in my heart for our Nutcracker costumes,” she confesses.

So, what does the average day in the life of a ballet costume director look like?

“People might think that I work on tutus all the time, but that’s far from the truth,” Wendy Gamble said. “I spend a great deal of time just keeping things organized for the next show and handling the shoe orders for the company dancers.” 

Every day is different. Wendy Gamble might find herself painting pointe shoes, cleaning costumes, scheduling fittings, doing alternations or shopping for anything from fabric to hair nets to laundry detergent. But, yes, she also makes tutus, which is no quick feat.

“The rule of thumb is 20 to 30 hours from start to finish,” she said. 

Each season brings different creative opportunities and parameters for Wendy Gamble. “I like to think we are the little ballet company that could,” she said. “The budget is never far from my mind. You learn how to be creative on a dime. By being frugal, we are able to perform a repertory that is challenging to the dancers and the community.” 

Wendy Gamble said her greatest challenge this season will be the company’s new ballet, “Bonnie & Clyde,” set in the Depression era and choreographed by Associate Artistic Director Roger Van Fleteren. It’s her first time creating costumes for an original full-length ballet.

“The costumes must allow the dancers to move, but still evoke the time period of the 1930s,” she said.

Through all of Wendy Gamble’s work, passion is her guiding force.

“You have to be passionate about your work,” she said. “And that’s easy to do here, since I’m surrounded by people who are equally as passionate about this company.”

Alabama Ballet will open its 2016-17 season with “At Home” Sept. 23-25 and Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Performed at the company’s studios, the intimate program allows viewers to watch the dancers up close, and they receive complimentary drinks. 

This year’s program features excerpts of upcoming season performances, including “Giselle” and “Carnival in Venice,” plus choreography by Alabama Ballet company members Nadine Barton and Michael Fothergill.