Hello lovelies, and welcome to my Pink-Tutu Time Travels, post number 1750! Today, we're stepping back in time to 10th October, 1806 - a date that marks a delightful Parisian ballet journey. Oh, my darlings, I adore those Parisian ballerinas and the wonderful Parisian ballet world. The theatres, the costumes, the beautiful dances, the whole experience just sweeps me away. Let's get our dancing shoes on and dive in!
Now, my wonderful pink shimmering Shire horse, Magic Meg, was pawing impatiently this morning. It seems she knew we were going to Paris, and oh darling, you should have seen the way she pricked her ears and nickered, as though she could smell those Parisian boudoirs and theatres! 😉 Meg, darling, always such a theatrical one.
Anyway, we rode to Paris, of course! Paris is just that wonderful. And just imagine my delight when we arrived in the centre of Paris, on the square called the "Place des Vosges," - this square with such lovely gardens surrounding the centre is where we found ourselves! Isn't it amazing? Meg loves trotting round these amazing Parisian streets! Paris just has such charm and beauty - its cobblestones, its gorgeous old buildings, its artistic atmosphere, oh the way the lights catch the buildings when the sun starts to set - well, just perfection, and the shops darling, simply delightful!
Let's hop on to today's time travelling focus, darling: 10th October, 1806, in the Parisian opera theatre of that date - what would have been happening there, I wonder? In 1806, it was called The Théâtre de l'Opéra - and was very famous in its time! Just picture it - the gas lights of Paris flickering outside, then going into a gorgeous, dimly lit theatre - can you imagine? You have to love those theatre settings and performances. Oh darling, they just sweep me away. It was here, in 1806 that my fellow ballet dancers performed - just picture the ballet outfits and shoes!
So much lovely ballet history, all packed into one date, 10th October, 1806! I absolutely adore Parisian history and culture, its elegance, its creativity - just beautiful and very chic - its fashions, its art! So it was so thrilling to spend the day in Paris.
On this particular day in 1806, the Theatre of the Opera was already quite a famous Parisian attraction - oh darling, just like the Moulin Rouge and other fabulous Parisian theatres - a favourite of Parisians, for many years, oh, it just oozed charm and magic! Well, Paris always does that to me! You can see the historical posters and notices from all those amazing theatres in all sorts of French museums now, I just adore them and how these old pictures reveal that beauty of history! You just have to love how people loved theatre back then, almost the way we love ballet today, it was just so ingrained into life.
I always love researching ballet performances of those years to see how the performances worked, because, let's be honest darling, there’s no way they were like our ballet today! They weren't ballet performances like Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, or the Bolshoi or even my darling local Derbyshire ballet studio - that just brings out that longing to jump in a tutu and join them.
The 1800s was more of a period of ballets with incredible theatrical and artistic storylines with lots of scenery and acting! Imagine all the rehearsals needed just for those story ballets, the music and costumes - and just think, dear reader, all these ballets would only have been written in French back then - how lovely that would be. And think, all this without the modern tech for lighting! You could get very excited for a ballet performance just from those lighting cues. Such excitement!
That night I did find myself in a very lovely theatre in 1806, in the midst of this history of ballets full of drama. And, I saw my favourite French ballet dance from this period! I just adore watching those French ballets - it’s so amazing and delightful - all about love, revenge, passion! They just pull at my heartstrings every time! And you just know they’ll be just as popular with those who attend, back then! I was surrounded by beautiful ballerinas in the ballet of "L'Amour Vengé - Love Avenged," a classic piece of the 1800s ballets. This play with its powerful theatrical effects just had the wow factor in the drama department! I did manage to grab a programme from the 1806 production which was an expensive purchase but so worth it - what treasures we can find on these trips, darling!
And my, my, just imagine, dear readers! This ballet was such an important one - this is the famous story-ballet by Jean-Georges Noverre - a ballet icon! It had such a brilliant and imaginative storyline which was quite bold, even back in its time! Just as a little aside - his other important works include "Pygmalion" - can you imagine what it looked like in 1806! Such a romantic story for ballet. Just amazing!
But I have to say, it was just amazing to sit there and watch those early ballerinas perform. They were so athletic and strong, it was truly impressive - especially after seeing a reconstruction in Derbyshire of how these ballets looked, it makes you really appreciate the hard work that went into these ballets at that time. Their steps were incredible and it just felt like a performance so ahead of its time. The beautiful dresses and the hairstyles were so feminine and pretty - so very French! They were the originals in that lovely feminine French ballet - so stylish, so artistic. All that dance choreography just took my breath away, darling - what talent those ballerinas had to carry out all those artistic ballets. You just have to admire the incredible talent!
And they just knew how to dance to all those beautiful scores in the 1800s! They were full of energy - oh the joy of the ballet on their faces! I must admit, my ballet boots are aching, and I feel a little exhausted, so imagine what they felt like! They are true stars. Their beauty is a wonderful legacy - it just shows you what incredible talent the 1800s had - they have to be admired. There’s so much we can learn from these ballets, the power, the storytelling! The dancing and the outfits were just breathtaking! There was a beautiful story about a king and his bride who fall in love - how wonderful and poetic - just lovely.
One of the ballet stars from the 1806 period who really stands out to me, darling, was the gorgeous Madame Bigottini - her work was a legend! Just think of her beauty dancing on stage! So exciting! Her talents and grace and style were incredible in 1806 and she made it her whole life - a career just like a modern dancer today! And of course they were just the stars of that period - how exciting.
But back to today, I have just finished adding my new 1806 Paris find to my ballet treasure collection in my rucksack. I managed to find the cutest Parisian ballet dancing shoes! They were all hand stitched and so pretty - just a beautiful vintage look - perfect for my collection, especially in pink, which makes me smile - all my finds make me feel so lucky. I just have to say I'm lucky to travel with Meg.
So dear readers, what are your favourite 1800s ballet styles? I would love to hear your stories about your ballet adventures, whether you’re learning ballet in Derbyshire, or watching a ballet on Broadway in New York - tell me all!
Remember darling, we’ll be back here again next month with another venture into ballets from the past - stay tuned for more adventures on www.pink-tutu.com!
Yours, in ballet and tutus!
Emma 💖🩰
