Jessica Cabassa
Costume Design
Jessica lives and works in London. Her personal background starts in the Dominican Republic, where she was born and where she spent the first years of her life. At a very young age she moved to Italy, where she studied theatre and cinema in Turin. In 2011 she moved to London and obtained her qualification in 2013 as a professional Pattern Maker at the Kensington and Chelsea College. Her artistic research has been informed by the merging of her Caribbean heritage together with the Mediterranean culture influence.
She has a dynamic background that spans fashion styling, costume, theatre and performing arts. Her freelance work includes theatres including Sadler’s Well, Barbican, West End theatres and Immersive productions such as Secret Cinema, Immersive Cult and Rumble in the Jungle: Rematch Live. After four years at Central School of Ballet as Head of Wardrobe, Jessica now thrives as a freelance Costume Designer and Wardrobe expert, returning to her roots in the industry. This is her third collaboration with Ballet Black.
Notably, her celebrated designs for Say It Loud (choreographed by Cassa Pancho) and If At First (Choreographed by Sophie Laplane) garnered her the prestigious Costume Design Recognition awards at both the 2022 & 2024 Black British Theatre Awards. Her collaboration with Ballet Black has extended further with the production, Nina: By Whatever Means, by Olivier Award-winning artist Mthuthuzeli November in 2023. Past works have seen choreography by Susan Kempster, Charlotte Edmonds , Christopher Marney, Mikaela Polley, Darshan Singh Bhuller, and Ashley Page.