PHOTOS: Pratt Professor Builds LED-Lit Tutus for Brooklyn Nutcracker

CLINTON HILL, BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Ballet's version of the Nutcracker, appropriately called the Brooklyn Nutcracker, fused ballet, hip-hop, and other dance genres to breathe fresh life into the classic ballet. It received a warm reception and sold out audiences in the Brooklyn Museum in December. But by far, the most popular part of the Brooklyn Nutcracker was its use of technology to light up tutus and truly bring the historic production into the year 2016.

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, an adjunct associate professor of industrial design and fashion design at Clinton Hill's Pratt Institute, put together light- and motion-responsive costumes for the ballet, otherwise known as works of "wearable technology." The former design director for Nike, Champion, and Fila, Pailes-Friedman has a passion for exploring connections between the body, its environment, and technology, which is apparent in her ornate tutu creations.

The tutus have multiple layers: boning, custom-fit hand-dyed top pates, a tulle skirt, and then high-intensity LED lights within fiber optic strands are hand sewn to the costume. On the dancer's lower back, she has LED "wands" that initiate the sparkles, according to a description of the show's technology from Pratt.

Photos courtesy of Pratt