Hello darlings! It’s Emma here, your Pink Tutu time traveller!
It’s so lovely to be back on www.pink-tutu.com. The sun’s shining here in Derbyshire, the birds are singing, and I’m just brimming with excitement about my trip to the year 2055!
I don't think there's any better way to start this blog post than with a "huge thank you!" to all you lovely people for supporting my pink tutu dream. I've been selling out my ballet performances at The Playhouse Theatre in Buxton – a magnificent little theatre, perfect for those elegant, theatrical shows - which gives me just enough funds to keep Magic Meg in those pink sparkly hoof polish and saddle blankets she absolutely loves! After all, she deserves it - she’s a true star of the show, a pink sparkling Shire horse with a golden mane and hooves. She really is a horse extraordinaire and is the perfect companion for all my ballet time-travelling adventures.
Speaking of adventures… This month I decided to travel right to the cusp of the future - to the year 2055. With my trusty pink tutu on, and my trusty rucksack ready to gather a whole load of memories and treasures, I climbed aboard Magic Meg and we were off!
As I stepped off the back of Meg, who else, I must confess, I found myself slightly disappointed. The streets, the buildings, everything, was very, very similar to what we see today, here in 2023! I was expecting the flying cars, robot maids, hover boards - well maybe not the robot maids! But a little futuristic flair I was hoping for! Perhaps they'd gone with a different type of sleek, stylish future than what I imagined, but this just means I'm going to need to return soon and find that "futuristic" magic, or is that a future magical mystery?
Don't get me wrong, it wasn’t all a complete let-down. I did have the chance to pop into a truly gorgeous ballet store! Oh my goodness, darlings! A kaleidoscope of pink tutus galore! The shop assistant had the loveliest voice - like a songbird – and helped me pick the perfect tutu for the performance I had in mind - which was based on the original Ballet Russes, a tribute to those glorious, historical ballets of the early 20th Century! And this led to one of the most fascinating aspects of this trip – the Ballet Russes are still absolutely huge in 2055! People have never stopped loving these iconic works, they’ve been reimagined and reworked throughout history, even though some people in the year 2023 think of them as rather antiquated! It’s fantastic to know that this style of dance, which is full of so much drama and elegance - with amazing choreography - is still cherished across the globe.
And while I'm on the topic of fashion, in 2055 everyone's very much in touch with what's trending. They were all wearing these fabulous iridescent, feather-light clothes that had these incredible 3-D effects, as if they'd stepped out of a dream. I’d been trying to pick out some for Magic Meg - she'd love that sort of glitz and glamour – but they were still quite expensive for even a time-traveling blogger. The futuristic materials, they're just crazy expensive apparently. The price-tag on those pink feather-light garments almost gave me palpitations. However, with some very polite and sweet bargaining - remember I am from Derbyshire! - and with a big twinkle in her eye, the shop assistant sold me some fabulous shimmering material at an amazing discount - so Magic Meg is wearing a shimmering pink shawl. What a star!
It's not all about fashion and tutus - the ballet world was also brimming with excitement and creativity! I attended the "Fusion of Forms" gala at The Royal Opera House, London, an event showcasing the best of ballet, technology, and art. I've got to say, it was nothing short of breathtaking. We're talking lasers, drones, virtual reality sets – the entire stage just transformed in ways I couldn’t have imagined. They were even having a little dance with one of those very tall robots - a futuristic take on the classic dance. Now I really want a dance robot, imagine what it would be like, but oh the cleaning... But even the robots in 2055 need to be able to "dance" as this really was something very unique and incredible. I felt my toes twitching and was itching to join the performance myself, which wouldn’t be wise considering it was in front of thousands of spectators and a large film crew, a huge gala to say the least.
You can imagine how much excitement I gathered from a trip like this! It is absolutely crammed full in my rucksack - it’s so full I can barely carry it home with me - a real mishmash of ballet stories and treasures. A ballet programme from that Fusion gala, photos of some incredibly striking dancers - both male and female in amazing and inventive dance moves - and some tiny feather-light fabrics in iridescent hues. Not to mention that fabulous new tutu! I cannot wait to tell you all about that in the future, the best thing is that it matches a fabulous pair of pink shoes which I just bought in Covent Garden, which has even more history than 2055, Covent Garden just doesn't seem to be able to grow old or look less fantastic.
Overall, my trip to 2055 was such a lovely mix of futurism and tradition, a real glimpse into the ever-evolving world of ballet! It's important to remember that ballet has always been a form of expression, evolving and changing with each generation, like the music we all love to listen to! And that's something I want to celebrate, something I want to share with you.
Speaking of sharing - my little tip of the month, inspired by my 2055 experience - is to always embrace the "new"! The world of ballet is always full of surprises - try something different! New classes, new choreographers, new ways of expressing yourselves. Be bold! Remember, a ballerina is always a work in progress!
Right, now it's time for me to wind down, have some cucumber sandwiches, perhaps a slice of cake. I have been in my favourite shop this afternoon! A very sweet elderly man - probably around my great grandmother's age, you would have thought - is obsessed with my blog posts and my ballet work, his daughter says I have turned him into a real "pink-tutu-man". So, in the next week, I am off to The Peak District to give a very special performance just for him. Now, that's my idea of the perfect "tea party". It is amazing how time travel can bring the future and the past together.
Until next month darlings!
Love always, Emma
[insert photo of Emma holding a very sparkly pink tutu]
