By Rachael Lindley
Photography by Crystal Wise
Featuring Texas Ballet Theater Ballerinas, Dara Oda as White Swan and Alyssa Ramirez as Black Swan
When Texas Ballet Theater unveils its production of Swan Lake on May 15, 2026, audiences will see more than timeless choreography. They will witness costumes as couture, tradition as design inspiration and movement itself as the ultimate runway. Every layer of tulle, every velvet sleeve and every jewel-like bead tells a fashion story — one written in stitches, sweat and artistry.
The production is directed by Artistic Director Tim O’Keefe, and choreographed by Ben Stevenson, OBE, the company’s Artistic Director Laureate.
While Swan Lake traditionally spans four acts, Stevenson’s interpretation condenses the ballet into two acts, creating a version that balances beauty with the rhythms of modern audiences without losing the grandeur of Tchaikovsky’s 19th-century masterpiece.
Behind the Curtain
O’Keefe was named TBT Artistic Director in the summer of 2023.
“I started off in the school theaters and switched to ballet,” he recalls with a laugh.
After joining the Houston Ballet in 1982 and following his mentor, Ben Stevenson, to Fort Worth, he has now stepped into the top artistic role. His charge: to set vision and style.
“We’re a classical ballet company. However, we also produce neoclassical works and contemporary pieces. So we do everything,” he says.
That “everything” includes fashion, woven through both stage and street.
“Ballet has shaped aesthetics inside and outside the ballet world,” says Annika Wills, the company’s marketing and communications specialist. “Even if you haven’t seen a ballet in years, ballet style is omnipresent. Ballet flats, wrap tops, the effortless off-duty look — they all trace back to the studio.”
Couture in Motion
While rehearsals begin just six to eight weeks before opening night, preparation for Swan Lake has been underway for over a year.
This season, TBT is refreshing its Swan Lake wardrobe with reverence, guided by original designs from David Walker.
“We knew when we brought Swan Lake back, the costumes had to be redone,” Wills says. “They’re beautiful, but it was time to refresh them. Some pieces need total reconstruction, while others — like intricate beadwork — are being carefully saved and reapplied to brand-new tutus.”
“It’s going to be very similar,” O’Keefe says. “When they restore a painting, it’s as if all of a sudden you see the vibrancy.”
Enter Wardrobe Director, Katelyn Clenaghan, who happens to be the muscle behind the Swan Lake refresh. Clenaghan danced for 20 years at TBT, switching gears to study under Masako Parshall, TBT’s Wardrobe Supervisor, who retired last year at the age of 88. What started as an interest in better costuming has led Clenaghan to the wardrobe department for the past few years.
“It helps that I’ve performed. I think that’s an advantage,” she explains. “I’ve done most of these ballets that I’m working on now, so I have a general idea of the feel for each performance.”
Clenaghan and Cristian Jimenez work together on each ballet, but the restoration of the Swan Lake costumes is a true labor of love. The pair painstakingly compares new velvets, trims and lighter textiles. The goal is for each piece to gleam under stage lights, while allowing dancers freedom to leap and spin.
“Costumes used to feel like a bedspread,” O’Keefe laughs. “Today’s are more aerodynamic and breathable.”
The final product is haute couture tailored for athletes — iconic silhouettes reborn in smarter fabrics.
The Tutu as Icon
Few garments bridge art and fashion like the tutu. Once long and romantic, draped like a bell, it has evolved into the crisp, platter-like skirts that carve geometry in the air.
“It’s amazing how much the set and the costuming can support the story,” O’Keefe says. “If it doesn’t connect, it’s a mess.”
O’Keefe explains that as ballet has evolved over the years, the tutus have answered the need to showcase technique, ultimately resulting in the more stiff tutus that show more leg movement.
The classical tutu is, in many ways, a form of fashion engineering: functional design that amplifies line, form and silhouette.
Caren Koslow Fashion Show
Texas Ballet Theater and Neiman Marcus partner for the much-loved, annual Caren Koslow Fashion Show and Luncheon in December. O’Keefe serves as choreographer with artist director laureate Ben Stevenson, while Robyn Chauvin produces the event.
What was once a traditional walk-and-pose has become, under O’Keefe’s direction and Chauvin’s vision, an immersive runway experience like no other. The show features an eight-foot-wide stage where dancers perform fouettés, soaring lifts, and razor-sharp turns.
“I think it’s so important to point out the amazing work these dancers do in this show,” says Chauvin. “Tim (O’Keefe) is an absolute genius and so inspiring to work with. Each and every dancer is excited to participate and gives their heart and soul. It’s not an easy feat to dance in clothes that aren’t made for a dance performance, but they feed off the audience’s love for their work. It’s a really beautiful relationship between Texas Ballet Theatre, the audience and Neiman Marcus.”
The energy is electric with the crowd clapping and cheering, reveling in fashion not just seen, but set in motion, by bodies trained to transform clothing into kinetic art.
“Designers come up afterwards and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I never thought of my clothes like costuming,’” O’Keefe says.
The event also supports the ballet itself, raising funds for Dancer Wellness and for pointe shoes, which cost the company nearly $100,000 each year. Every dancer goes through approximately 30-40 pairs of pointe shoes annually, with a cost ranging from $90 to $150.
Why Here, Why Now
For O’Keefe, all of this — the couture-like costumes, the living tradition, the opulent staging — is about more than a performance. It’s about community identity.
“It’s important for the community,” he says. “People want the arts as part of their life… You don’t have to go to New York City or San Francisco. You can have it right here.”
Fort Worth gets its own front row seat, dressed anew, restored in color and fabric, and infused with both athleticism and elegance. In Texas Ballet Theater’s hands, Swan Lake becomes a fashion show of movement, where high drama meets high design.