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Little Red Village

Jenny Leigh Du Puis, Circus and Theatrical Costume Designer

Season 2, Ep. 13
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Jonathan Joseph and Rachel Elspeth Gross interview Jenny Leigh Du Puis a PhD Candidate in Apparel Design at Cornell University, where she is combining her extensive professional career as a circus and theatrical costume designer and technician with her formal training in functional apparel design.


Jenny Leigh Du Puis literally ran away to join the circus. She was a theater kid in high school, studied costume design in college, and then followed her heart, and several big names circuses around the country, gathering skills, and building the sort of professional reputation that normally takes a person decades to establish.


Jenny convinced Cornell University, one of the most academically rigorous apparel and costume design programs in the United States to let her adjust their curriculum. Jenny is currently working towards earning her doctorate in circus costuming, so she can find ways to ensure that the safety features required by one industry are able to be utilized in ways that make other potentially dangerous careers more safe.

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