Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542690
20 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2026 Three principal women get their natural hair styled in soft up-dos of curls dressed over a French twist or down from a high ponytail. Principal dancers are assigned to one hair stylist with the freedom to create the look together, working from the base structure in the design. Eight children play the principal characters in the opening scenes, one of whom is Victor's younger brother throughout the show. We style the boys' natural hair with Joico Joigel Firm #8 set with hairspray and the girls' hair up in a soft bun, with bonnets to match the silhouette of their adult selves. Nearly 30 female dancers prep their hair into a French twist, leaving out an ear-to-ear parting over the top of the head secured into three pin curls. We adapt this style into three looks without needing to fully restyle their hair. Staff and lab women wear bonnets that fully cover the head. Later in Act 1, there's a tavern scene with a group of wenches. We release the pin curls and use curling irons with Chi 44 Iron Guard to create textures that we tease and secure in a wild carefree look, with a headband of loose flowers. The women's third look involves a set of more than 30 curled postiches in a range of colors and textures to match any possible casting rotation of dancers. The pieces are dressed in medium curls locked into place with pins and a fine hair net. We take down the pin curled sections, pin a postiche on top of the French twist, then iron a wave into the front pieces to dress back and blend with the postiche. Nearly everything up to this point is completed one hour before the show begins. In that time, I'm also styling while staying ready to jump in if there's any issues. We sometimes team two or more crew members to speed through if a dancer is running late or there's a last-minute change to casting. On this tour, we had emergency cover dancers going into roles who had never been fit in any of the wigs—a key reason I have the crew unblock everything. For the dreamlike final act, the corps dancers become 20 ballroom couples, during a 20-minute intermission, including full costumes. The men switch out of their queues into tie-back yak-hair wigs in blue, silver, or burgundy, matched to their costume. Each has one to three rolls on the sides, tall pompadours, and big fluffy ponytails. We use the same prep as earlier, with large pins and no glue. The women bring rhinestone crowns matched to their dresses. We release the front pieces from their previous role and add a curled postiche if they don't already have one. The crown is placed, tied at Wei Wang and SF Ballet student . Photo: Lindsey Rallo