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Home › *dance › Eufemia Brancato, queen of the tutu, dies at 95

Eufemia Brancato, queen of the tutu, dies at 95

5 July 2015 by gramilano 2 Comments

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Eufemia Brancato

Eufemia Brancato died this morning three weeks before her 96th birthday. She was the head of Brancato Costumiers in Milan which she founded in 1961 after five years working at the Piccolo Teatro with Giorgio Strehler. Creating her own company came about after the great Italian designer Luciano Damiani asked her to make all the costumes for an opera he was designing. Being that she could hardly do such a thing at home, and didn’t want to turn down such an opportunity, she opened her first workshop.

She had an uncanny eye for detail and line, able to move a pin by a fraction thus making a beautiful costume into a great one. Her company made costumes for La Scala and theatres throughout the world exporting Italian knowhow and flair along with her own perfectionism. She was actively working in the workshops until well in to her eighties, and oversaw the running of the company even when she was confined to a wheelchair over the last few years.

Although the company made (and makes) costumes for opera and prose, it was especially sought out by designers for ballets as it specialised in making meticulous yet resistant costumes which were also practical for the very precise needs of dancers.

For them, the costume needs to be like a second skin: it can’t weigh them down and must fit perfectly.

Poster for an exhibition of costumes made by Sartoria Brancato
Poster for an exhibition of costumes created by Sartoria Brancato

Bancato had a steely eye, which could wither the most capricious of divas, and was exigent with her collaborators. When she was 84, she said,

I get angry if my workers don’t give me the chance to check over what they have done. I know that I’m always organising the lives of others, but what can I do if I realise before they do what needs to be done.

Italian stage designer Luisa Spinatelli, who worked with Brancato for a lifetime, commented this morning:

She was indispensable for finding technical solutions when making a costume. She was inventive and exceptional in helping to find the right material for the job. It is sad to think that many such specialised costumiers are closing and our nation is losing a valuable cultural heritage. Signora Brancato cannot be replaced.

She made all the costumes for me for Carla Fracci’s company. We had a wonderful working relationship taking her costumes made in Milan to companies all over the world. The Raymonda that we did in Japan with Svetlana Zakharova won the Kiko Takibana prize for best theatre costumes.

A costume made by Brancato in the Royal Box at La Scala
A costume made by Brancato in the Royal Box at La Scala

Other designers who opted for Brancato are Oscar-winner Franca Squarciapino and Margherita Palli.

The director Beppe Menegatti and his wife Carla Fracci collaborated many times with Brancato with both their own ballet company and with other productions where Menegatti was the director. This morning he told me,

Eufemia Brancato was the true leader of the tutu in Italy. Her handmade creations were the benchmark for excellence influencing how costumes are made in Europe.

I owe this exceptional woman gratitude not only for her work but for her generosity. We began our work together many years ago and it has been a long journey, which has always been characterised by excellence that has in turn had an effect on other productions.

Carla Fracci was dressed on hundreds of occasions by Eufemia Brancato and will miss her terribly.

 

The funeral will be held on Tuesday in Milan.

 

Costumes created for Arcadia Productions' show Storybook
Costumes created for Arcadia Productions’ show Storybook

 

A clip from Silvia Brancato’s documentary Eufemia Brancato o la passione teatrale:

Related

Filed Under: *dance, dance, design, obituaries Tagged With: Beppe Menegatti, Carla Fracci, Giorgio Strehler, Raymonda, Svetlana Zakharova

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bill philin-ploplis says

    6 July 2015 at 13:09

    Thanks for this beautiful tribute! I did not know anything about her and am glad that I finally do know a little. One hears so much about Karinska that one forgets that others excelled in the design profession. What a wonderful artist!

    Reply
    • gramilano says

      14 July 2015 at 14:47

      She was a wonderful woman who could assess a situation instantly and resolve a problem in a flash. A remarkable talent.The sartoria makes costumes for opera, straight theatre and musicals, but it was with ballet costumes that Sig.ra Brancato really made innovations. Ciao Bill.

      Reply

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Graham Spicer

Writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name 'Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like.

I was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. My scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times. I write the 'Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times.

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