Hello darlings! It's Emma, your Pink Tutu Time Traveller, and welcome to my little corner of the internet, where ballet history meets shimmering tutus and all things pretty! This month, we're waltzing our way back to September 9th, 1796, a time when the world of ballet was bursting with creativity, drama, and yes, quite a lot of tulle!
It's all so very exciting, because September 9th, 1796, was the day I decided to make my first visit to this period! My beautiful pink shire horse, Magic Meg (her coat is the same shade as my favourite tutu!), pawed impatiently at the time-warp gate while I popped my tutu into its perfectly pink silk-lined satchel and slung my trusty leather rucksack across my shoulders. I can’t resist a good rummage through old ballet programmes and dance books to find fascinating snippets of ballet history, you know.
A Journey To London Town
Now, as you know, I always try to incorporate my love of fashion into my ballet travels! So, for my 1796 journey, I'd chosen a flowing white muslin dress, accented with swathes of delicate pink ribbons. Imagine my delight when I reached London, to see this beautiful pastel trend was a firm favourite at the time, all thanks to the lovely Marie Antoinette! It’s quite simply adorable to think we were wearing similar outfits! The ladies, all powdered and perfumed, wore gowns that skimmed the ground and trailed yards of pink and white lace - truly heavenly. They must have loved wearing such elegant garments and seeing these fashions coming back around gives me hope that my Pink Tutu Revolution will be a reality sooner than we think! Imagine seeing everyone at the Royal Ballet wearing them one day… it’s simply delightful.
Ballet Buzz in 1796
But now, back to my ballet research, you’ll all be desperate to hear about my 1796 ballet explorations, right? Well, imagine this: no tutu’s as we know them, darlings! This is what we might call the pre-tutu era - instead, dancers wore flowing white dresses called 'Robe à la Polonaise'. So much less structured than our modern costumes and I’m honestly a bit disappointed in myself for not bringing one to wear – I simply couldn’t resist my sparkly pink tutu, even if it wasn’t an accurate period piece.
The ballet scene in 1796 London was filled with innovative steps and grand narratives. Imagine! Ballet had just emerged from its Classical period, a time of elegant formality, but new ideas were blossoming, introducing pantomime, story-telling, and even characters dressed as pantomime clowns, something that has recently resurfaced as a trend in the modern ballet world and something which fills me with joy and delight, so fun to see! It was, shall we say, ‘ballet gone wild’ and utterly thrilling! A touch of naughtiness added into a dramatic scene – wonderful!
I attended a dazzling performance at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in Covent Garden. The building is still standing today, so next time you are in London you have to go and visit! Can you imagine my thrill when the lights went down and the curtain went up, it's still so thrilling to watch the spectacle of a theatrical production all these years later. This wasn’t just ballet – oh no, this performance was a mix of dancing, singing, mime and acrobatics, which I found both thrilling and absolutely fascinating. A world of stories danced on stage. And oh my goodness, the ladies and gentlemen wore the most beautiful wigs, with feathers and ribbons… my heart could have burst.
The Beauty of Dance Across the World
One thing I learned on my 1796 trip is that London wasn’t the only place where ballet was blooming! Vienna and Paris were humming with activity, too. This was a time of tremendous cross-cultural exchange. I was amazed at how the dance styles from across Europe were swirling and evolving into what we now know as the foundations of Classical Ballet, all whilst still holding on to a theatrical flair, with singing and mime, and the occasional dash of humour! Wonderful. To my absolute joy, I've been discovering so much about the incredible Italian dancer Carlo Blasis – the founder of the ballet technique which eventually blossomed into the balletic technique that so many know and adore. It's thrilling to see history unfold!
Dancing To The Future
Now, darlings, I know I must wrap up. As you've seen, 1796 was a wonderful time for ballet. There's something so exciting about seeing the seeds of future ballet being sown in that year – the beginning of what became known as 'the romantic period', in which the dance style began to move away from rigid formations, with the ballets evolving to feature flowing lines, emotion and expression, all leading us, my darling readers, to the elegant ballets that grace our stage today.
So remember, there's always a tutu for everyone - be bold, be bright, and most importantly, have fun! I shall keep dancing, learning and writing, and perhaps, even inspiring more people to don a pink tutu!
Till next time, darling readers! Keep that Tutu Love going!
Love always, Emma
Pink Tutu Time Traveller- *Website: * www.pink-tutu.com
- Next Month's Ballet Time Travel: October 9th, 1955
