In This Story
Photo: Caroline MacDonald, School of Dance's costume supervisor.
Curious about the stunning costumes created for the School of Dance? Introducing Caroline MacDonald, the School of Dance’s talented costume supervisor.
Over the last year, audience members may have observed a notable change in costuming for the School of Dance performances. This can be attributed to two consequential events:
First, a generous gift from two members of the Dance Partnership Council, Dan Rainey and Julia Morelli, enabled the School of Dance to renew its aging costume stock. Although the collection was well managed, the costume stock was so old that students sometimes held a contest before each performance, awarding a prize to the dance major who could name the most dances in which a costume appeared. Many of these costumes date back 30 years!
But no longer!
Thanks to the Rainey/Morelli gift, the costume stock has been renewed. Basic costume items—leotards, leggings, undergarments, etc.—have been purchased, along with new versatile costume pieces.
Second, the arrival of Costume Supervisor Caroline MacDonald has brought new and vibrant life to the costume shop. Caroline is a gifted fashion designer and costumer whose past experiences as a dancer, choreographer, and artist have already enriched the experience of students and audience members alike.
Caroline arrived at George Mason last October and was immediately plunged into the busy performing season. In just her first two weeks, she had the costumes for the Fall New Dances concert transformed and ready for the performance. Then followed six more concerts: the Studio Series, the Gala, the Fete, and the spring concerts before the end of the school year.
Most people would rest after such a busy beginning, but Caroline—never one to rest—spent the summer transforming the overcrowded costume storage room. The first order of business was to sort through 30-plus years of costumes and decide what could be kept, donated, renewed, and reimagined.
Her years in retail gave her the necessary skills to totally reorganize the remaining stock. It is now digitized in a system that is easily accessible. Each item is recorded according to size, color, style, and number of pieces and then carefully packed away, with only one or two samples remainingon the rack. This has created much more efficient use of space.
Caroline also supervises three dance major interns and trains them to sew alterations and labels, aid in stock organization, work on the wardrobe crew for performances, shadow and sometimes assist during design processes, and build their patternmaking, sewing, and design skills. The interns step in whenever Caroline needs an extra set of hands and help throughout the costume shop and stock. Working with Caroline, they develop transferable skills in the costume industry that will complement their dance careers.
Sophomore students are fortunate to experience Caroline’s expertise as she teaches the costuming portion of the Production class. Students study the characteristics of fabrics, the basics of costume design for dance, and the vocabulary needed to communicate their costume ideas with a designer. They create mood boards representing their dances and articulate design ideas, allowing them to further refine their choreographic vision.
When working with faculty and junior and senior choreographers, Caroline asks questions and listens closely. Then, using her skills as a fashion designer, she creates a totally unique look for each dance. Costumes from stock are reimagined, or new ones are made, in such a way as to bring each choreographer's vision to life.
Caroline grew up in Portland, Oregon. She pursued a professional career in ballet, joining several national companies before culminating her career with the Nevada Ballet Theatre. There, she was also a prolific choreographer, creating eleven new works for the company, including numerous collaborations with Cirque du Soleil.
In 2020, she shifted her focus from performing to education and fashion design. She attended Marymount University, where she earned a BFA in Fashion Design, along with two minors: one in sustainability and one in studio art. While at Marymount, she founded her own fashion brand, Allons*y Designs, which focuses on sustainability and cutting-edge fashion. Caroline won numerous fashion awards from Marymount’s Portfolio in Motion. She showed her work at the 2024 Costume Society of America National Symposium. In 2024, Caroline was invited to present her fashion collection at the prestigious DC Fashion Week.
Caroline's research on sustainability and fashion, titled “Environmental and Social Concerns in Fashion Textile Production,” was published in the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (JNCHC) and can be found in the NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity.
Prior to joining Mason Dance, she served as the Northwest School Costumer at the Washington Ballet and as the Design Assistant for the Wolf Trap Opera costume shop.
Caroline is an incredible addition to the School of Dance. Her background as a costumer, artist, dancer, choreographer, environmentalist, and fashion designer is inspiring and has greatly enriched the school. She has quickly become indispensable. The School of Dance is delighted to have such a talented and creative artist in the program.