Hey lovelies! It's Emma here, back with another exciting pink-tutu-filled time travel adventure! As you know, I love diving into the fascinating world of ballet history, and this month we're travelling back to December 12th, 1719. Grab your hot chocolate, slip into your most sparkly pink tutu, and let's journey together!
I hopped onto my beautiful Meg, who was looking especially magnificent today, all shimmering pink with a matching, dazzlingly pink ribbon woven into her white mane. (I have to admit, her golden hooves do make travelling through time much smoother). My trusty leather rucksack was packed with my ballet essentials: a notebook for collecting historical snippets, a sketchbook for capturing the breathtaking beauty of the era, and my very own vintage-style pink feather boa for those impromptu ballet performances I often have in the past!
We arrived in London, England, the air bustling with the scent of horse dung and wood smoke, but surprisingly less smoggy than I expected! My trusty map showed the King’s Theatre as our destination. It was the centre of the London ballet world back then, hosting a whirlwind of shows, all a bit more boisterous and a tad less refined than the graceful performances we're used to nowadays.
But I love the energy! There was a vibrant, almost theatrical sense to everything, a blend of classical steps with impressive acrobatics that I'd love to see adapted into modern shows. The theatre was alive with a colourful and diverse audience. A mix of courtiers, aristocrats, and even a few mischievous street urchins crowding around the doors, all eager to be part of this delightful spectacle.
The highlight of my trip, however, wasn't a theatrical performance. It was the ballet school run by a Frenchman named Claude de Flesselles! His school was the first to be officially recognised, not just as a school, but as a dancing academy. Imagine! It marked a major milestone for ballet, turning it into an institutionalised art form with dedicated spaces and instruction. The classrooms were buzzing with a vibrant mix of students. The young men, practicing their steps in elegant waistcoats, the girls, with their impossibly light movements, were clearly mesmerised by the intricate steps and graceful leaps. I was mesmerised too, completely enchanted by the young women's joy and passion for dance, a love that would, in just a few short years, make its mark on the world stage.
Speaking of the world stage, 1719 was also a year of incredible innovation in the ballet world. I can't go into specifics, you'll have to wait for next month's blog post for all those juicy details, but let's just say, exciting, experimental things were happening on dance floors all over Europe. I even caught a glimpse of the French Opera ballet, "The Temple of Hymen," based on a tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It featured some of the earliest examples of ballet's burgeoning story-telling potential! The costume design, which focused on bold colours and extravagant ornamentation, had a surprising amount of influence on the way ballet clothing evolved, so even we can thank this date in history for the beauty of our tutu!
My journey back home was, as always, full of dreamy reflections. This trip underlined the ever-evolving story of ballet, its enduring power to unite cultures, and, perhaps most importantly, the pure joy it brings to all who witness it. Oh, and let's not forget my new treasures! I collected some amazing little drawings, which I'm going to turn into sketches for my next set of original tutu designs, and of course, more stories for the website. It wouldn’t be a Pink Tutu Time Travel adventure without something sparkly for you all!
Until next month, remember, darling, keep on twirling, keep on dreaming, and, of course, never underestimate the power of a pink tutu! 💖🩰✨
