Lenora Taylor Nikitin never knew that designing clothes for her Barbie doll as a child would lead to her becoming lead costume designer for “Cirque Dreams Holidaze”
“I had no idea that costume designing was even a job choice. I have a degree in Biology and I thought I was going to be a neurosurgeon but I realized I didn’t like sick people,” she said.
She gets to use her expert hand and eye coordination to create exquisite over-the-top costumes for the Cirque Dreams franchise.
“I’ve been creating for Cirque for 10 years. This is truly my passion,” explained Nikitin, a mother of two that resides in Florida but is originally from Virginia. The first thing I made for Cirque was a costume for a female aerialist costume for Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy and she was happy and it the fit was great. I knew that I wanted to design more of them.”
As head costume designer, Nikitin reads the script for the show and works with the artistic director and founder of Cirque Dreams, Neil Goldberg to determine what the costume needs are for the performers and the overall production.
“If we have new actors, we make new costumes. Either I’ll come up with an idea and I’ll sketch something or the director will dream up something and bring it to me,” explained Nikitin who started out as Cirque’s touring wardrobe supervisor before landing the head designer position. “I always want to create something functional because the actors are doing so much. I don’t want them to be inhibited in any way by the costume.”
Back by popular demand, “Cirque Dreams Holidaze” took hold of the Benedum Center Stage Dec. 29-30. It featured over 300 costumes, 20 acts and 30 international artists performing death-defying acts, elaborate production numbers, acrobatics and illusions all to an original musical score and seasonal holiday songs all encased in a winter wonderland.
All of the costumes for the production were based on holiday ornaments and are made of various fabrics including velvets and sequins. Many of them are heavily adorned with Swarovski crystals and beads.
According to Nikitin, it can take up to eight hours and five people to decorate one costume.
“It may be something simple like a simple pair of pants and those pants are handed back to stitchers at the theater,” she said. “So one costume could take up to 15 man-hours to complete with a few people working on one costume over a course of a several weeks.”
Nikitin draws inspiration for her work from her idols Bob Mackie and Steve McQueen. She also generates ideas from thumbing through magazines and watching the annual Victoria Secret Fashion Show.
Nikitin’s work has been nominated for an American Theatre Wing Best Costume Design Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy. She was compared to Mackie by the New York Times for the Mother Nature Dress in the Broadway production of “Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy.”
“Before I had kids, I saw my costumes as my kids. I enjoy putting something out that I’ve created that everyone can enjoy,” she said.
Nikitin has been able to adapt with the style changes that have occurred over time.
“Some of the costumes I made we still use. But some of the other ones, I can see the flaws in them and I’ll create a better costume with a better fit,” she said. “Now, the costumes are sexier. People want to see a little skin when they were more covered up before from head to toe. Even though the costumes are sexier, the show is still appealing to kids.”
When she isn’t creating a masterpiece for Cirque Dreams, Nikitin enjoys spending time with her children and creating leather handbags.
She feels blessed to be a part of the Cirque Dreams family.
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