Originally from San Antonio Texas, our costume designer and choreographer for ¡Viva la Revolución! Maria Moreno Ferrin has been living in Oregon for the past 25 years. Founder of the Northwest Conservatory of Dance in Hillsboro, Moreno Ferrin has been involved in the arts, theatre and dance since she was a child watching her mother make costumes. With a degree in Math, (yes, math!), she taught high school for several years before deciding teaching math wasn’t for her. As she puts it “theatre is much more fun!” We caught up with Maria Moreno Ferrin as she began preparations for her next show, a production of The Nutcracker at the Northwest Conservatory. 

Susy: How long have you been involved with theatre work?
Maria Moreno Ferrin: I’ve been involved in the theatre ever since I can remember! My mother was a costumer, so I’ve always been around it. As a child I did children’s theatre. I performed in everything from Lady in the Dark, South Pacific, The Music Man; played children’s roles and then I danced then I went on to be in several different companies as a dancer. 

What are your earliest memories of the theatre?
Mostly being plopped in the audience and watching things I didn’t understand… and getting really upset in high school about having to go back and do Romeo & Juliet when I had seen it costumed and seen directors interpret it so many times! You know, I wanted to read something else [she laughs].

I know you are dancer and a performer. Have you also always made costumes as well?
Yes, I started making costumes again when my son went to school. I didn’t like the way the costumes were being made for their productions. Then I started to get involved as a costume designer for the ballet because I also didn’t like the costumes they were using. So yes I’ve always been a costume designer as well.

What do you like best about your work?
Probably the diversity of it — it’s not monotonous, it’s never dull. There’s never a dull moment and you are always trying to fix something in a short time and on a budget. 

How long have you been collaborating with Miracle Theatre Group?
I think this is my fourth show. I’ve always done the Día de los Muertos and a few others. It just happened to be that I do the Día de los muertos shows. For ¡Viva la Revolución! I made the costumes. The challenge was to make the costumes reflecting that period of time but still making them fun. I also did some of the choreography. I know a variety of Mexican folkloric dances since I once worked with Amelia Hernandez’s Ballet Folklorico for about two years in Mexico City. Those were my crazy years!

What are some of the projects you are working on now ?
Well I founded the Northwest Conservatory of Dance in Hillsboro. We are doing The Nutcracker in a few weeks. This is our fourth year of doing The Nutcracker. We have also been doing all of the fairy tales. This year we are doing Sleeping Beauty, we did Cinderella last year. We are actually thinking of doing Swan Lake next year. Between the Northwest Conservatory of Dance and my outside costuming projects I keep myself busy!