BIO
Rachel Finzen is a costume designer who specializes in the art of couture ballet tutu design and construction. Finzen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art from the University of South Dakota and subsequently worked with friend and acclaimed designer, Travis Halsey to hone her skills in costuming. Working as Halsey's assistant, Finzen helped create "Halsey Onstage," a booming costume shop which dressed dancers and performers from all over the world.
Finzen's credits include the construction and co-design with Halsey of Act II of Miami City Ballet's underwater rendition of George Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," as well as the construction of tutus for the original Kennedy Center production, "Little Dancer," designed by William Ivey Long and starring Tiler Peck, principal dancer at the New York City Ballet.
Finzen also constructed costumes and accessories for Madonna's "Rebel Heart" world tour with Halsey Onstage and Miodrag Guberinic under the guidance of designer Arianne Phillips.
Costumes created by Finzen are dotted in many Nutcracker productions around the country, but most prominently featured are works created with Halsey Onstage in Houston Ballet's most recent "Nutcracker," designed by Timothy Goodchild and choreographed by Stanton Welch.
While living in Chicago, Finzen worked as an ager/dyer and seamstress for many television shows, motion pictures, and theatrical performances. Some credits include Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, Shameless, Empire, The Chi, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and the film "Captive State," starring John Goodman, Vera Farmiga, and Machine Gun Kelly.
As a designer, Finzen is highly skilled in a variety of disciplines, including tambour embroidery, hand-dyed garments, airbrushing, thermoplastics, and millinery. Frequently breaking free from the accepted norms of ballet costumes, she integrates a wide variety of materials and techniques to the classical construction of tutus implemented by French and Russian traditions. Finzen designs, constructs, and ships tutus all over the world for professional dancers and ballet companies.
Professional tutus created by Finzen are available to rent by any individual performer or ballet company starting in 2021, and patterns and from the late Travis Halsey are also now available for purchase. Halsey Onstage served as a major resource for educating fellow costume designers and those interested in learning the art of ballet costume construction. Webinars are now available on YouTube for free streaming, courtesy of Halsey's family.