The frogs were the problem.
The question of how to turn humans into amphibians with nothing more than layers of fabric led producers of Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice “Dare to Dream” to Athens, where costume designer and University of Georgia professor Ivan Ingermann busily set about finding an answer.
“The biggest criticism Disney got was you’ve assigned this role to a black woman and turned her into a frog for three-quarters of the movie,” said Ingermann referring to the character Princess Tiana in Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” “We wanted to expose the face of the performer and have it clear that it was a woman and a woman of color.”
Not only did Ingermann solve the question of frog aesthetics, he did it with great élan. “It was, OK, now I’ve got to say ‘frog,’ but leave room for them to be able to do these amazing stunts and poetic dances they do on ice,” Ingermann said. “In skating you have to keep in mind the performers are not only moving, they are moving very fast and they do spins that can really build up centrifugal force. If costumes are unbalanced or a little bit off, it can actually cause them harm.”
When he was growing up in the “backwoods” of Florida, costume design wasn’t exactly on the radar, although Ingermann did make his own costumes for high school productions. “I guess I was a better designer than actor,” he said. He ended up with a scholarship for design and followed with a master’s degree in the field from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Surrounded by industry heavies, including Susan Hilferty, the costume designer for “Wicked,” Ingermann soaked up every bit of information. He soon began working as a designer on various television projects and independent films.
A desire to return to the South brought him to UGA in 2007, where he teaches graduate students. Ingermann said he tries to give his students a taste of the real world, so he called on former pupil Ben Philipp to help him with the Disney on Ice gig.
“Dare to Dream,” which tells the story of three Disney princesses — Cinderella, Tiana and Rapunzel — is a visually alluring show that depicts memorable scenes from the fairy tales along with popular songs.
Ingermann created about 90 costume sketches for the show, but it isn’t until the fitting with each skater that the designs take shape. That’s when Ingermann, the choreographer and show director can talk to the performers about placement of their hands, how they need to move and how the garment might conform to a skater’s shape.
Then the designs are sent to garment shops — in this case eight different ones — that each create different outfits. One shop, for example, focused primarily on hand-painting frog skin onto Tiana and Naveen’s costumes.
Ingermann also had the task of creating costumes for all 10 Disney princesses for a finale scene. Using the same white and gold palette for all, Ingermann had to make sure each princess could be distinguished by the silhouette of her dress.
Ingermann has an amazing eye for fabrics and colors, said director Patty Vincent. “We want to get the best performance out of the skaters, so we work closely with Ivan to make sure we don’t lose the integrity of both the choreography and the costume design,” Vincent said.
A costume designer, Ingermann said, must be adept at using various tools — traditional and new — to accomplish a single important goal.
“Hopefully, your clothing and the actor and actress come together to create this other person, a character,” he said.
Even when that character happens to be a frog.
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