Las Vegas!

I had an absolutely wonderful time in Las Vegas, met some lovely people and learned heaps. We worked really hard, in the seminar room by 8am and usually there until 8pm.

This is our sewing room at the Suncoast Hotel.

I had eight students for my stretch tutu class, from all over America, two from Canada and one from England. All of them ended up with a tutu at the end of the day and a half, although it was touch and go for some (yes I mean you Patti)! This tutu was made in my class by Tami and is being modelled by one of the lovely local ballet students who let us dress them up. And that is Suzanne! I am hoping to get some photos of the tutus made in my class once they are decorated so I can post them here.

Then onto the serious stuff with Suzanne generously sharing her knowledge of traditional tutu making with us. This beautiful tutu was made by Mary in Suzanne's class.

We managed a trip down to the strip to look at a couple of the bigger casinos,

this is INSIDE the Venetian!! and on the Saturday evening went to see the spectacular Cirque du Soleil show "O" followed by a backstage tour. Travis Halsey from the Joffrey Ballet costume department spent a day with us and let us play with air brushes and pattern making and tried to get us to think outside the box. He brought three of his fabulous tutus to show us, all rolled up and squashed into a tiny box! I think we were all totally horrified but his work is absolutely incredible.

Finally we finished with a day in a theatre seeing how lighting and distance affect colour and design. Suzanne also arranged for two professional dancers to talk with us about what they like and dislike about tutus, from the perspective of the wearer and her partner. All in all a fabulous course