This article is part of a series focusing on the grads of the Dalhousie Class of 2024. Spring Convocation runs from May 21 to 31 in Halifax and Truro. Read all our profiles here in one place as they are published, and for more information visit the Convocation website.
In 2019, Louisa Steigenberger travelled from Greenland to Nunavut by ship with Students on Ice, stopping in Indigenous communities while learning on the land about the issues facing Arctic regions. This experience made her realize whatever she wanted to pursue in life, she needed to be passionate about it.
This May, she’s receiving a Combined Honours bachelor’s degree in Costume Studies and Law, Justice & Society from Dal after starting her university journey in British Columbia.
“I thought I should do something like political science and environmental studies because I wanted to tackle social issues,” Louisa explains, “but I’ve been an artist since I was two and wanted to include that part of my identity in my university path as well.”
“Then one day I saw the words Costume Studies on Dal’s website.”
Law school had been Louisa’s plan all through high school, so seeing Dal had a strong Costume Studies and Law program sealed the deal.
She called her Mama and said, “I think I’m transferring to Dal and moving across the country to Halifax.” Her mom replied, “Well yeah, it’s Costume Studies, you have to do that.” Together, they then enjoyed a back-to-school shopping trip to Fabricland while the reality of this big change set in.
Challenges and triumphs
In both her online-only and in-person learning years, Louisa felt she had finally “found her people” at the Fountain School. “Our instructor Karen Bennett really made it a community right from the start. I met my best friend Julia during my online year,” Louisa says. “Just being able to sit with a group of like-minded folk and create together was lovely. I feel like I really became an artist in Halifax.”
The workload of combining two very different passions came with challenges.
Louisa started her fourth academic year by taking the LSAT in October and completing it in April by presenting her final 1837 period gown assignment on stage to a sold-out audience in the Joseph Strug Concert Hall.
“Some people take a year off from work and school, just to prepare for the LSAT. In October I was studying, working to finance my degree, and going to classes as well.”
Louisa credits her Costume Studies department head with helping her survive. “Anneke Henderson was a big help with teaching me time management and discipline. I learned that from her. She’s very cool.”
The Historical Dress gown assignment is a highlight of Louisa’s academic career. “It’s what you work towards for years,” she says. “In our fourth year we get to research, design and make a ball gown, wearing it on stage in front of an audience. We get to be princesses.”
Working with other performing artists
Fountain School students also benefit from experiencing hands on, multi-disciplinary learning environments while working “behind the scenes” in other performing arts areas. Louisa’s class constructed and fitted student actors with costumes for the season’s final stage production, Euripidaristophanize. The costumes were very different from the structured historical ball gowns.
“Euripidaristophanize was a lot of draping,” she says. “You go from drafting on paper to being free to play with fabric on a dress form to see how the grain falls to achieve different silhouettes.”
This unique combination of skills and knowledge has Louisa confidently applying for jobs in the industry. “With the theatre experience, historical costume theory, and actual technical skills, I feel really prepared for every field I want to work in,” she says.
Louisa is very grateful for the gift of feeling supported by her parents to follow her passions.
“So many of my German ancestors survived off their ability to sew, many strong women who also mastered these crafts,” she observes. “I had moments where I could feel there's somebody there, looking down on me. Carrying on that tradition is really meaningful for me.”
“My family helped get me here. As a transfer student, I didn't qualify for first-year funding but after that I received the Charles and Mary MacLennan Bursary in Theatre several times, which meant a lot. It makes such a difference when people support the arts.”
Louisa completed her Law internship with the BC First Nations Justice Council last summer. “It’s some of the most fulfilling work that I've done,” she says. “And I’ve been accepted to law school. Or maybe I’ll run away with the circus and then start law school the year after. I just know I want to do something that I love and make a difference for those who don't have a voice in Canada, through art or law, or both.”
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