Nothing is ever simple when building and painting props and scenery, so many aspects of the production have to be taken into account. Just as a dancer has to make the hardest move seem graceful, the production team makes the set look as though it appeared naturally with the choreography.

The way choreographers choose set designers depends on how they want their ballet to look and what they hope the audience will feel about it. People who design for ballet are usually specialist theatre designers but they can be artists, too. The ideas they show the production team might range from a thumbnail sketch to a detailed design or set model.

Once the designs are received, the designer, choreographer, production co-ordinator, technical director, scenic production and construction managers, master technician and stage manager spend time talking about how the setting for the ballet can be built. The production team’s job is to make the design happen on stage, exactly as the designer wants it, but how it’s built is their decision. Backdrops, cutcloths and free-standing scenery are many of the ways to bring the design to life.

Technical drawings are made for every piece of proposed scenery, because if it doesn’t work on paper, it won’t work on stage. Ground plans of theatres must be looked at as there is no ‘one size fits all’ for a stage. Every set is made to work on both the State Theatre stage in Melbourne (large) and the Opera Theatre stage in Sydney (quite small). If a production fits both of these stages, it will basically fit into any major theatre in Australia.

Construction and painting are done by specialist scenery manufacturers whose only guide are the technical drawings, a set model, a large painting or an A1 drawing.

Scenery is mostly built from steel or wood, depending on what is the best material for a piece of scenery’s purpose. Hanging cloths can be made from many different materials, for example gauze, canvas, wool or velour. Ballet scenery is built to last at least 10 years.