What does it take to prepare Blossom for its first ballet performance in 20 years?

This week has been full of activity as the production crew readies Blossom Music Center for The Cleveland Orchestra’s performances with The Joffrey Ballet on August 22 and 23. The Orchestra’s production manager, Romanina Campea, took a few minutes today to explain a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes to put together this kind of production.

Blossom was built mainly for the purpose of presenting musical concerts rather than opera or dance. What kinds of accommodations backstage are you making for the dancers that you don’t usually need to do for an Orchestra concert?

Together with The Joffrey Ballet, we’ve gone through careful preparation and brainstorming to provide the necessary accommodations for the dancers. In the backstage area of Blossom, we’ve transformed the largest prep room into a room full of makeshift dressing spaces for each dancer, ensuring that each dancer will have adequate space and privacy.

Each of the 38 dancers requires 30” of dressing space and a 24”x30” mirror with lights so that they can apply their makeup. In addition, we have to closely monitor the temperature of the room to ensure it stays within the norms specified by AGMA [the American Guild of Musical Artists, the labor union that dancers belong to] – 72 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. We have also turned off our air conditioning unit providing air conditioning to the stage to maintain the right temperature for rehearsals and performances.

Besides that, we’ve provided space and appropriate equipment and workspace for the Joffrey’s wardrobe staff, including washers, dryers, steamers, irons, sewing machines, and a place to store wardrobe trunks.


You’re bringing in a “sprung floor” from Cincinnati Ballet, to give the dancers the give and the springiness they need to avoid injuries, and the dancers are bringing their own Marley floor, the performance layer that goes on top. What’s different about their own Marley floor—why aren’t they using the Cincinnati Ballet’s?

While the sprung floor provides the resiliency needed to prevent injuries such as shin splints and ligament injuries, the Marley is a nonskid surface that provides resistance or the appropriate friction needed for a certain type of dance. As in the case of the Joffrey, a dance company chooses to use their own Marley for a number of reasons. First, the dancers develop a familiarity with a particular floor surface. Another reason is that in order to achieve the look he wants, the lighting director bases his decisions on the specific color of the Marley, so it is important to have consistency.


What kind of preparations are you making to transform the stage at Blossom into a safe performance space for the dancers?

Ballet companies require what’s called a “spotting light” for all performances and technical rehearsals. The spotting light is placed at the centerline of the stage, and hung in rail position at the rear of the house. The light is used to attain a constant orientation of the dancer's head and eyes, to the extent possible, in order to enhance the dancer's control and prevent dizziness. Additional spotting lights are also placed along the downstage side of the dance floor so the dancers have a point of reference on where they are from the center of the dance floor.

We’ve also made preparations for the dancers backstage, including quick change booths, laying out Marley for warm-up and safety backstage, and running lights to provide adequate lighting.

We’re excited to have the Joffrey Ballet here, and we hope they feel at home at Blossom this weekend!


-- Romanina Campea, production manager, The Cleveland Orchestra