Redken set the stage for a spectacular start to its Symposium 2005 with "Beyond Your Expectations," a high-energy rock musical about a less-than-enthusiastic hairdresser desperately in need of inspiration who gets a lot of help from her friends at Redken. More than 10,000 beauty aficionados and industry pros turned out at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in January for the one-night only performance, which took weeks of rehearsals and featured 60 cast members, 30 studio musicians, seven full-scale production numbers as well as a team of set decorators, makeup artists and hairstylists.
 Clockwise from top: Justin Isaac talks color with the crowd; Ann Mincey gets to the heart of the matter; a cast comprised of salon staff and clients strut their stuff in the rock opera; Maroon 5s live performance got rave reviews; elaborately coiffed dancers light up the stage. |
The New York City-based company also pulled out all the stops in its many classrooms, where a roster of world-class artists delivered powerful information, all of which was designed to help salon pros learn, earn and live better. Among the offerings: Ashley Dixon and Jill Leitz walked attendees through their imaginative and contemporary approach to haircoloring and styling with Fire and Ice. Teresa Mockler and Ellen Lawlor shared their insight on how to master visual exposure and demonstrated a variety of techniques, including surface cutting with a razor to create soft shapes. Global artistic director of color Kris Sorbie and global artistic director of design Chris Baran showcased trendsetting looks from their Trend 05 collection, Intersection, and also previewed a new cutting technique called Merging, which allows stylists to cut from short to long while keeping length and weight. Finally, Sam Villa thrilled the crowd with his bag of hair tricks that included cutting dry hair with a razor and taking the lip off a large barrel curling iron and using it like a round brush to create a smooth hairstyle sans blow-dryer. Other presentations included Philip Anthony and Shannon King's Gangs of New York; Justin Isaac and George Garcia's Liquid Graffiti; George Alderete and Dhaniel Doud's 2 Boys & Their Prada Bag of Tricks; Peter Mahoney's Personal Excellence; and Roy Peters' Boxed Set, which took attendees on a walk down memory lane and explored the technology, tools and techniques that are being used to transform last year's styles into looks of the future. "Tomorrow is never about the haircut; it's about the finish," Peters told the crowd.
 From Top Left: Sam Villa crafts a look; Roy Peters shares his secrets for staying; Chris Baran’s latest trend comes to life on-stage; Jill Leitz shows her contemporary approach to haircoloring and styling, From Left Below : An edgy yet commercial look from Sam Villa; cutting-edge color from Justin Isaac and George Garcia; a short, shaggy shape from Redken’s Intersection Trend 05; a colorful crop from colorists George Alderete and Dhaniel Doud |
Equally captivating was Ann Mincey, the heart and soul of the professional beauty industry. Mincey, who's celebrating her 30th year with Redken, gave a moving presentation, Living Better: A Work of Heart. Said Mincey, who showed attendees how to use positive emotions to change patterns of activity in the nervous system, "Success comes by taking one positive step at a time." If that's the case, then Redken is off to a fabulous start for 2005.