PASSION PIT
The pull of her love of dance is what pushed MaryLynne Meschino to design costumes,
When interior designer MaryLynne Meschino joined PushPull dance company to fulfil a desire to perform, she had no inkling she’d become its head costume designer, creating more than 200 outfits this season alone. But that’s the power of passion. “I love the dance company, its inclusiveness, and it’s a way for me to participate in a beautiful artistic endeavour in a warm and welcome environment,” Meschino said of her time-consuming commitment as a volunteer to the non-professional, non-profit company.
The results of her countless hours of dedication hit the stage on Thursday, when PushPull’s 2016 production Can You Keep A Secret?, a collection of 18 original dance pieces, debuts at Toronto’s Winchester Street Theatre.
Kelly Slate and Rebecca Ho were university students when they started PushPull in 2004 for like-minded people — those passionate about dance, but working in other careers. Slate is now a lawyer; Ho, an engineer.
This year, the company has about 30 members — dancers and choreographers — of all levels, genres and from around the world. PushPull operates on a volunteer basis. There is a membership fee and ticket sales cover costs, including material for costumes.
Meschino, who runs Allegro Interiors design firm, was in her teens when she stopped the ballet lessons she’d started as a child. Once she’d settled into her career, she longed to return to dance and a friend introduced her to PushPull. She’s been “challenged” to learn different styles of dance — hip hop, Chinese, Bollywood, tap.
“We’re there for the joy of dancing and being with each other — we consider ourselves a family, and we laugh our heads off most of the time,” she said.
Meschino put her sewing skills to work as costume designer after her first year as a member in 2004. Lisa Sorenson, a high school teacher, became her assistant when she joined the company as a dancer/choreographer four years later. Meschino and Sorenson envisioned and created 236 costumes for this year’s production. These include dressing the dancers in evening wear for a jewel heist piece, a colourful ’50s look for a Gene Kelly tap piece, long black skirts and embroidered peasant blouses for a Latin jazz piece, and reverse outfits for a contemporary piece that has partners dancing as negative reflections of each other.
The costume budget of $3,500, while more substantial than previous is still tight, she says.
“Much of the creativity isn’t about designing or conceptualizing costumes, but in how to get that look for an incredibly low amount of money.” Meschino said.
To accomplish that, Meschino and Sorenson scour the discount outlets and teen stores along Orfus Rd.
For last year’s Game of Thrones production, they cut armholes in the sides of long, stretchy tube skirts and belted them to create tunics. One year, sheer curtain panels from Ikea became skirts that could tear away partway through the number.
The company has accumulated a significant inventory. Sorenson spent a summer organizing their rented locker.
“There were 62 different styles of dresses, 37 bins of stuff and more on hangers,” she said. Documenting — complete with sizes and photos — was a huge task, but has made searching for costumes much easier, she said.
Meschino and Sorenson spend October through April designing, shopping, sewing and altering outfits.
Fittings and dress rehearsals start in May. “With so many different body types — statuesque and waif and everything in between; long legs, short legs — it’s hard to find outfits that flatter everyone,” Meschino said. The goal is to “make everyone look their best.”
It’s a frenetic schedule, Sorenson said, especially when you have a fulltime career elsewhere.
Each year when Meschino and Sorenson are asked if they’ll take it on again, “We look at each other and say I will if you will, but no way on my own,” Meschino said. Can You Keep A Secret? runs Thursday to June 26 at Winchester Street Theatre, tickets are $20 to $25. Children’s tickets are available.