Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Amaral Zaltron
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
If I had to pinpoint the time when I decided that costume was my passion, I would say it was back in Brazil on a cold winter day, covered by a warm fluffy blanket, watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with my parents. It may sound a little strange, but my 12-year-old mind was blown by how they made the uniforms seem so unique to each character, and still be a uniform. I think it is almost needless to say that the next day I was defying my school uniform
rules and trying to do the same, and to my disappointment, I wasn’t as successful as Jana Termine in the task, and the principal was not happy about my endeavors in the fashion world. To my surprise, my parents were not mad about the call from school, quite the opposite, they were very supportive of my newfound hobby, as long as I stopped trying to change my uniform, of course.
When I was older, it was time to choose where to go for college, and to my Grandma’s great disappointment, I refused an offer to go to dental school and packed my things to move to a big city and pursue my fashion design degree.
During fashion school, I took styling and photography projects that helped me develop my eye for composition and how to tell stories through clothes. Besides that, the many history classes made me fall in love with research and taught me to see how clothes changed throughout periods. For my thesis project, I wanted to marry my love for street fashion and
history. To do so, I created a fashion brand inspired by the Valkyries of Norse Mythology. The Valkyries were Viking warriors and prophetesses, powerful female entities, very well respected and almost feared. For the research for this project, I went to Europe, and spent two weeks traveling through Stockholm, Copenhagen, Lahr, and Paris, doing mainly two types of research.
The first one was in Stockholm. I visited different museums and learned about Viking clothes and aesthetics from primary sources. The second type of research was all about the different places I visited. Since I was designing clothes for contemporary women, I took the time to look around, at what they were wearing, accessories, clothes, and colors. What were the things that all those women had in common, and what made each of them unique It was a truly eye-opening experience. On one hand, my thesis was approved with a maximum score and published by the university. On the other hand, I was able to realize that my passion for telling stories through clothes could be a new chapter to pursue now that I was graduating from Fashion School.
The next step was to find a costume designer in the city I lived in and talk to them. I found out that one of my peers, Francine Mendes, was a costume designer, working in the industry for years. We talked about the profession and she gave me tips on how to start looking for a job.
A few weeks later she was offered to be a Costume Designer for a TV show called The Blessing (A Bênção – in Portuguese) and asked me to be her second assistant. I was supposed to work on the first two months of the production, but by the end of my second month, I was hired to stay until the end of the project. When we finished filming, I wanted to learn more about costume design and that was when the idea of doing a master’s started.
So I applied to the University of Minnesota as my first choice, because seeing Matthew LeFebvre’s designs made me want to learn more about costumes with him.
Now, almost four years after I packed my things and I moved to the US. I am finishing my thesis to graduate as an MFA in Design & Technology at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. During my years here I was able to design shows for the University such as Silent Sky and Fu***g A (yes, with the bad word), and in professional theaters such as Stages Theatre Company, Señorita Mariposa. I worked as a technician for many plays at the U and theaters around the Twin Cities, and spent three summers working at Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, NM.
But the best part of all was to teach students and connect with different artists. I taught students at the University costume shop and as a teaching artist at Roseville Area High School. I am passionate about encouraging my students to express themselves and explore new ways to share their unique voices, all while staying true to their backgrounds and cultures.
As a woman and person of color, I deeply understand the power of theater to foster community, express artistry, and amplify the voices of youth. When I moved to the U.S. to pursue my passion for art, the theater community in the Twin Cities made me feel welcome and supported. It reinforced my belief that no one is alone here. I am immensely glad for all the people that I meet along the way.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would say smooth but definitely rewarding. I moved to this country without ever being here before, and English is my second language (my first one is Brazilian Portuguese). Trying to communicate my ideas in a second language was challenging to say the least, and feeling confident in speaking in general was something I struggled with daily. I am grateful that I met amazing people here, that helped me feel welcomed and heard, I’ve made so many friends along the way that showed me how amazing and supportive the theater community is here. Besides that, I was also learning everything about theater in a second language, theater was new to me since I was a fashion designer before. I did work in one TV show, but I was far too inexperienced in the genre. One thing about me is that I am eager to always learn and give my max, and along the years in grad school I did exactly that. I hope that people around me can see how much I want to be a better professional and collaborator. I grew to be confident in my work and at speaking in another language, and the people around me were essential to this matter. And on top of all of that, I am an immigrant and always had and still have to deal with visas and limitations because of it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a costume designer, technician and teaching artist based in the Twin Cities. My focus is costume design. I’ve designed and assisted in productions around the city such as Señorita Mariposa for Stages Theatre Company (as a costume designer), Silent Sky and F****g A for Univeristy of Minnesota (costume designer), I assisted my mentor, Matt Lefebvre in the production of Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters for Hisotry Theater, Molly O’Gara in Romeo and Juliet: Love in a Time of Hate for Teatro del Pueble and Sarah Bahr in the dance piece Death of Tybalt. I am grateful to have such amazing mentors and connections in the Twin Cities that allow me to experience more theater while I start my career as a costume designer. I also am a teaching artist at Reseville Area High School, where I help students learn more about designing the costumes. My passion is to help young artist to find their voices at the same time I am finding mine. Theater is about stories and connections, and I believe that it starts with the people behind the scenes. With the stories that each person in the production brings to the table, and in the diversity of points of view.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I am happy to see people achieve new accomplishments and to see people happy. One example of this is one of the students at the U, Marsh Kelly, he was my assistant for F***g A and he just designed a mainstage show for the U. As an undergrad this is no small accomplishment. He was the one who suggested this play and got the opportunity to design, seeing how much he grew during the process was absolutely breathtaking. Even when it was difficult, it was amazing seeing him go through with it, and at the end he has a beautiful, creative design and I could see how proud of himself he was. I was so proud of him and happy to be part of his journey. I also love to see how my MFA peers are growing too, U can easily see how much they learned and how much more confident in their work they are. It makes me happy to be around such incredible talents.
The second thing that makes me happy may sound a little silly, but I just love to people watch, I love seeing small acts of kindness and smiles around me, even more now, with the way the world is in general. Seeing these things makes a life worth living
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carolineazaltron.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinezaltron/
