The National Stage Costume Center goes all the way … the “storytelling”

It is in the Allier (03) Moulins. Better, it is located in a former military barracks of the eighteenth century, classified as a Historic Monument. Temple of the artistic heritage, the National Center of the Costume of Stage is the guardian of not less than 10 000 costumes of theater, dance and opera from the mid-nineteenth century until today.

This unique museum in the world contains a collection of works often priceless by their cost; a real gold mine that 800 000 visitors have already discovered since its opening in 2006. In order to take advantage of this wealth and to share it at best, an extension of the premises has been undertaken since this year. Additional costume reserves are being set up and an exhibition space dedicated to scenography will be created by 2020.

In the meantime, and before the end of this vast project, the CNCS continues to transport the visitor through its proposed exhibitions. Since April 7, he invites her to enter the fairy world of “fairy tales”. With the success since its opening, this enchanted retrospective will play the extensions until November 4 and that’s good. Queens, kings, princesses, princes, witches and other creatures will continue their narration. Loaned in others by the Opéra national de Paris, the Comédie-Française, the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, the Opéra national de Bordeaux, the Operas of Geneva, Vienna, Saint-Etienne, the ballets of Monte-Carlo, Disneyland Paris … the 150 universal costumes come from choreographic, lyrical and theatrical productions, but also from puppet shows that freeze time in an unprecedented visit at the heart of a work of excellence, guarantor of this living heritage.

Once upon a time there is no modesty. Fables, magic, miracles, dreams, poetry and the “happy end”, where heroes, wicked, spells, fantastic creatures, enchanted forests, fairies and witches, all from fifteen fairy tales hang out. Together, they revive his fiction that so rocked our childhood. Their cauldron boiling constantly to highlight the work of costumers very inspired by them; a bewitching homage dedicated to the know-how of the confection and its history, to the sought aesthetics, to the choice of the materials, the textures, the colors and the ornaments; all in a well-orchestrated scenography flipping through the pages of a book, where the visitor becomes an actor.

Welcome to the realm of magic and wonder! The folk tales inspire more than ever the scene by its themes. They remain in the repertoire, such great classics to such an extent that they have become timeless. “Peau d’Âne”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Nutcracker”, “The dream of a summer night”, “Child and spells”, “Prince of Motordu “, bewitch the exhibition. The characters catch up with the visitor and guide him with their wand to what has built their legends …

“Fairy tales” – exhibition of the National Center for Stage Costume and Scenography – Villars district, Route de Montilly, 03000 Moulins – Tel. : 04 70 2076 20 – Open every day from 10h to 18h and until 18h30 in July and August. Individual, group, school and specific rates on  www.cncs.fr

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