Centre National du Costume de Scene (CNCS) (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: National Center of Stage Costume (CNCS)), is a French museum dedicated to stage costumes and sets. It was inaugurated on 1 July 2006 in

Moulins, Allier Moulins (; oc, Molins) is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department. It is located on the river Allier. Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin, the Anne de Beaujeu Museum and The National Center of C ...

Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (born 13 March 1954 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), often known as RDDV, is a French politician, France's Minister of Culture from 2004 to 2007. He is a member of the UMP center-right party, and the grandson of Henri Donnedie ...

the

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

, Pierre-André Périssol the mayor of Moulins and Christian Lacroix, dressmaker and board chairman. The current director is Delphine Pinasa, whose portrait is exhibited at the museum.

History

It is located in the old district of Moulins, Allier

Departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

. Situated on the left side of Allier River, it faces the town and its historic quarter. The museum includes the historic building, which had been partially destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was restored by François Voinchet, Architect of Historic Monuments for the museum. Villars, named for the native military officer, Marshal Villars (1653–1734), was built during the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

. The 18th century

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

Caserne ou quartier Villars, actuellement centre national du costume de scène was used as a cavalry barracks. The interior of the museum was designed by

Jean-Michel Wilmotte Jean-Michel Wilmotte (born 1948 in Soissons) is a French architect. Biography Jean-Michel Wilmotte studied interior design at the Camondo school of interior design in Paris. Just two years after graduating, he founded his own agency in Paris in ...

and Jacques Brudin. A new building, was built for conservation of the centre's collection.

Overview

The museum is the first structure, in France or abroad, to be entirely dedicated to

scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material ...

and

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

heritage. Its mission is to preserve, study and increase the value of a collection of 10,000

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

costumes. It also shows paintings, on loan from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France), the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

and the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

(Paris Opera). The museum has four areas: the reserves, exhibition halls, library and the training center. There is a gallery of temporary exhibitions behind eight windows. A large room showcases costumes in a scenography context. It also has educational spaces, an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

and a documentation center. Its restaurant was decorated by Christian Lacroix, and it has a museum shop.

Collections

Nureyev collection

The museum has a collection of

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

's costumes, as requested in his will to be a "place of memory". Nureyev, who has been the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

director had wished to have his collection placed in a museum in Paris, but suitable locations could not be found. So, his collection was placed in the museum in this Auvergne region museum, which is about 3 hours by train from Paris. It is "a permanent collection that offers visitors a sense of his exuberant, vagabond personality and passion for all that was rare and beautiful." The collection has historical artifacts from Nureyev's career including film and photograph material, in addition to 70 costumes. It was shown the

De Young Museum The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California. Located in Golden Gate Park, it is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, along with the California Pala ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

through 17 February 2013 in a show entitled ''Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance.''

Stage costumes

Several stage companies and theatres, including the Comédie Française and Paris Opera, send their costumes to the museum after their final show. At the museum they are available to be exhibited and preserved. They are also available to researchers and students for study.

Past exhibitions

Previous exhibitions have included: * Best in Show *

Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier, A ...

* I love the military * Christian Lacroix, Costume *

Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an " enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...

Régine Chopinot Régine Chopinot (born 1952), born at Fort-de-l'Eau (nowadays Bordj El Kiffan) in Algeria,. is a French dancer and choreographer of Contemporary Dance. History Since she was 5 years old, Régine Chopinot studied classical dance, and then dis ...

: The Parade * Thousand and One Nights * Son in flowers, garden scenes *

* Russian operas

Notes

References

External links

Official site
(French)
Official site
(English)
Centre national du costume de scène at Google Cultural Institute
{{authority control Theatre museums Museums in Allier Fashion museums in France Costume museums Monuments historiques of Allier Buildings and structures in Moulins, Allier