Ballet stage make-up

[balareena]

Hi every one!

I am going to be in the Nutcracker in a few days (I am Clara! ) I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on how to do professional looking ballet stage make-up?

Or some links!

 

thanks for any help!!!

 

-balareena-

[Mel Johnson]

OK, there are lots of variables to consider when you say "stage make-up".

 

Are you performing on a professional stage, or at a local school? How large is the auditorium? How close are you to the closest audience seat? How close to the farthest? How fast do you move during your dancing? How much light is on the stage? Is it about like an average bright day, or a well-lit office or classroom, or is it very intense, so much so that you can't even see the audience when the lights are up?

 

There are very many variables involved, including things to do with "correcting" features on your face. Most kids I see overmake their faces for dancing on what is essentially a plainly-lit room in front of an audience where the most distant member is less than 200 feet away.

[Guest theskysthelimit]

if you're interested, mehron makes a student makeup kit that works well on some people if you match it correctly to your skin tone

[BW]

Knock, knock: Stage Makeup

[balareena]

It is in a 600+ seat auditorium.

I am about 15-20 feet away from the first row.

From the furthest seat I don't know but 600 seats.

I wouldn't say my dances are very fast.

And I will not be able to see the audience because of the lighting.

 

Hope that Helps

[Victoria Leigh]

Has your school not offered any make up classes, or provided someone to help you either by doing it for you or teaching you how to do it? Certainly any Nutcracker performance should have someone helping the children with make up, and supervising those with more experience. It is the directors job to be sure that happens. They cannot expect children and young teens to already know how to do it if they have not been taught. They should provide a list of what you need to buy, and then show you how to do it. It takes practice!

[Mel Johnson]

OK, that sounds like about the size of the auditorium in the high school from which I graduated. Also it sounds as though there's a good bit of light. You won't need much more than normal street makeup for your eyes, except a little bit of extension on the upper eyelid might be in order. Not too black and not too heavy under the eye, either - you don't want to look like King Tut, or worse, a raccoon! Use a little lighter foundation as highlight on the cheekbones and rouge lightly over the top of that. You might need to lowlight underneath the cheekbones with a slightly darker shade of foundation than your basic color.

[Guest theskysthelimit]

a racoon in a tutu.....what an interesting mental image

[DewDrop5392]

Or maybe a racoon in a tutu on pointe performing the sugerplum pas?! I am laughing just thinking about it!

[Mel Johnson]

Believe it or not, I actually went checking the webimages for "raccoon tutu", and I got a lot of pictures of common garden variety raccoons and an Archbishop! Now, an Archbishop in a tutu....

[Guest twinklehooves]

Your auditorium sounds like ours. Here's what I'm wearing for our Nutcracker:

 

-foundation (Max Factor Natural 101)

-blush (Rock 'N Rose: on cheeks and around hairline)

-lip liner (raisin colored)

-lipstick (raisin colored)

-eyebrow pencil (brown, for me)

-black eyeliner (on bottom lid, extending past the eyes)

-White eyeliner (between black eyeliner lines)

-blue eyeshadow

-dark blue V's (between eyebrows and eyelid)

-brown eyeshadow above eyelid on browbone)

-false eyelashes

-mascara on bottom lashes

 

[Victoria Leigh]

I would stick with the brown tone eye shadows. And be careful with the white between the lines. Unless you have been taught stage make up, I would not work with that yet. And, it might not be necessary. Also, the foundation color should be based on your skin tone. If you are blond or light haired and fair skinned, you will need a base that is darker than your skin tone. Natural 101 is rather light, I think.

[Mel Johnson]

Ms. Leigh is so right.

 

Tan-Rose or Tan #1 is good IF you have a moderate-sized auditiorium to be seen in, and the lights are rather strong. Natural 101 is good for the ghostlies, like "Les Sylphides" or the Wilis.

[Treefrog]

knock-knock. Not a young dancer, but I have a question that seems to fit here.

 

I understand the darker foundation on the face, but what happens with the rest of the upper body (chest and arms) if the skin is quite light? Are there ways to blend the face makeup gradually with the natural skin tone, or do you use makeup on the upper body as well, or ...????

[Victoria Leigh]

It depends, Treefrog. If you are very pale skinned and have to wear a darker base, then it can be blended down the neck, but some people need a body make up too, at least in a tutu role. It depends on how drastic the difference is. Most should be able to just blend.