Bringing Out the Best

            I love color. I love to adorn inanimate objects, like furniture or windows. But so much more than that, I love to enhance people’s attributes so that they see the beauty of what they have inside, as well as letting the world see them. I also like wearing the jewelry that my husband gave me that matches whatever I’m wearing or feeling. All this to say, I see the world as one big costume opportunity.

            I’ve been making costumes my whole life. When I was little, my dad said that I was always wearing some sort of “shmatta” ( old raggy fabric, usually used in reference to a piece of clothing), depending on my mood or imagination of the day. I learned early on that color is a gift that is not just for us to see and enjoy, but we are to use that color to express anything we want to make others see…and feel.

            I started to make dance costumes when I had my own ballet company and then later when I had my own studio. At first, I made my own costumes because it was so much less expensive than buying them. Then I ramped up my costume production because I saw that I could make the fabric dance along with whatever movement the dancer was doing. The color and flow could complement and help express the emotion. Not only that, but the costumes could be created to enhance the gifts the dancer has, and camouflage the ones we don’t want!

            Costumes are not meant to cover up; they’re meant to bring out what we want the world to know. They don’t have to be beautiful, they just have to be right and to complete our story.

            Have you guessed by now that I’m not talking about actual performance costumes?  The whole world dresses up for what and who we want people to see.

            When I choreographed Handel’s “The Messiah”, I included a short section called the Pastoral Symphony that required the talents of some children who were adept at acting and musicality as well as dancing. Rehearsals would go well, but it was difficult for them to deeply get into the meaning of what they were doing as well as sustain their focus on the facial expressions, body language, what they were trying to say through the choreography, and their technique! That was a lot for kids to absorb. Then we would have the first costume fitting and run-through in the costumes. In that one rehearsal, it all came together for them. While their bodies told the story through their dancing, their faces were earnestly lit up with understanding of what they were saying. They were learning how to make the fabric move for them from that very first costume fitting.

We don’t have to be dancers to learn how important our inner gifts are. We all have something to say and to give, but too many of us hang back. Perhaps we feel too insignificant out on our own. That’s when we grab the metaphorical muumuu, so we can cover up and feel presentable. The muumuu covers everything, sometimes the most important gifts. It gives a false sense of security, so that rather than fearing that others will be dismissive, we can dismiss ourselves. The muumuu is not a flattering nor enhancing costume; it’s the curtain that covers up the artistic creation behind it that’s waiting to be seen. But a true costume (still being metaphorical) will help propel who you really are and what you want, or need, to say.

I like watching TV shows that are about renovating and redecorating older homes. The builders and designers work together to create something that’s not only functional and fulfills great potential, but even the paint colors and fabrics are significant in making the home unique, beautiful, and creating a feeling of comfort and security.

That’s what we want to do within ourselves – to be a person who is not only crucial to those around us in how we minister to them, but to be unique and a place of warmth, comfort, security, and safety. And of course, it never hurts to

Dance on