Dirty Dancing

Costume Designer Jennifer Irwin's career spans 30 years constructing and designing costumes for drama, opera, film and in particular for dance & ballet. Jennifer designs regularly for all of the major Australian companies.

Dance credits include 34 works for the Sydney Dance Company, 20 years of repertoire for Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Royal New Zealand Ballet and West Australian Ballet.

Jennifer has also designed extensively for the Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Theatre Company, The Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia. Jennifer also designed some of the largest scale spectacular productions ever staged in Australia, including the Awakening - the Indigenous segment of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, co-designed all the costumes for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony; the Official Commemorative Ceremony marking the Centenary of Australian Federation and the Olympic Arts Festival of the Dreaming opening.

Film costume cutting credits include: The Matrix; Mission Impossible II; Red Planet; Looking for Natalie Wood; Strictly Ballroom and Romeo and Juliet.

In 1984 she was awarded a Theatre Board Grant to study at La Scala Opera, Milan, Italy. In 2001 she was awarded a Centenary Medal for service to community and has been nominated for 10 Green Room and 2 Helpmann Awards.

Commissions for directors & Choreographers include: Graeme Murphy; Neil Armfield; Stephen Page; Robyn Nevin; Gale Edwards; Gideon Obarzanek; Jorma Uotinen; Stanton Welch; Adrian Burnett; Stuart Maunder; Marion Potts; Kate Champion; David Atkins; Ric Birch; James Powell; Kate Gaul; Tony McNamarra; Iain Sinclair; Elma Kris and Francis Rings.

Jennifer's many successful collaborations are reflected in her inclusion in the Who's Who of Australian Women 2011 for her "contribution to design in Australia".

Jennifer designed the costumes for the world premiere of Dirty Dancing in 2004.