Battle for the Winds Show Day!

The day of the show! The atmosphere back stage - excited and convivial. With all the Breathe costumes finished there was little to do but check that the costumes were all accounted for and ready and then lend my services to Battle for the morning, drying costumes, ironing and generally helping as and when required.

With the procession about to start it was time for us to watch the first part of the days performance - the procession of the Wind machines as the Battle regions made their way down the Weymouth promenade. There were far more performers and costumes then I had anticipated, as it seems each region had brought extras of both with them but it all added to the overall carnival atmosphere.

For myself the highlights of the procession were the unexpected moments, the most startling of which was when Jake, one of the Swindon performers, climbed onto a traffic light pole to juggle with his juggling partner who was on stilts.

After watching the procession it was back to getting ready, making sure that all the costumes were prepared and in their rightful places before the dressing began, and the last minute task of sewing wadding into some of the headdresses to prevent any slipping - with head gear you can never be too careful - and making sure the elastic of said headdresses was the right length and in the right place.

The dressing itself was for the most part very relaxed, though always efficient, since the performers for the most part already had their base costume on when they arrived as they had been permitted to take them home after the dress and tech run.

This time, as myself and Jessica had been with the aerialists during the run we were allowed to watch the main performance. After spending the last few minutes with the performers before they were due to start the show for a very emotional and rousing speech from Director Jamie to get the performers going, and a few words of encouragement to our aerialists, we were through the barriers to the side of the stage and into the crowd.

For all of us who were part of the wardrobe team it was an incredibly moving and emotional experience, not just to see costumes that we had helped design, make and been involved in for so many months used and brought to life but also to see our Breathers, after working with them and getting to know them, get their time in the spotlight was incredibly moving. I am so very glad that I have gotten to work on Breathe, and getting to work with the team - both backstage and the performers - has been a once in a lifetime experience that I feel privileged to have been a part of.