Hello, my lovely ballet-loving friends! Emma here, your resident pink tutu-wearing, time-travelling fashionista, back for another delightful journey through the history of tutus! Today, we're skipping back to May 1st, 1832, a date ripe with historical drama and⊠surprisingly enough, a dash of ballet! đ©°
Now, I know what youâre thinking: 1832?! Did tutus even exist back then? The answer, my darling readers, is a resounding YES! And they were quite the spectacle! Letâs grab our imaginary travelling train tickets and take a trip to Paris, where all the fashion magic was happening! đ
Picture this: The city is buzzing with anticipation for a premiere! You see ladies and gentlemen sporting their finest bonnets, top hats and velvet jackets â everyoneâs headed to the Paris Opera. And what is everyone excited about? You guessed it - a brand-new ballet! Now, hold onto your tiaras! This ballet isnât just about graceful steps and beautiful melodies. Itâs about a radical new look! Enter: La Sylphide!
Imagine a ballet filled with airy and light movements â ethereal dances that seemed to defy gravity! That's what audiences were met with, and what was responsible for changing the ballet scene forever. You see, prior to this, ballerinas danced in rather heavy, bulky costumes! But âLa Sylphideâ introduced a whole new aesthetic: long, white, billowing skirts, designed by a genius of the day, a gentleman named Charles-Louis Didelot. These skirts, made from a special type of lightweight fabric, made for incredible flow and motion, making the dancers appear almost as though they were floating! Now, my darlings, thatâs a trend worth a spin!
Remember this crucial point, dear readers - while this look isnât exactly a tutu yet, itâs the GRANDDADDY of our much-loved fashion piece! The âLa Sylphideâ look planted the seed for the tutu we know and love today, influencing the iconic tutus seen in classic ballets like "Swan Lake", "Giselle", and âThe Sleeping Beautyâ a little later on.
Speaking of âGiselle,â if we time travel to this date, the iconic ballet wouldnât even exist yet! We are almost a decade away from its 1841 premiere! But the influence of "La Sylphideâ would prove to be huge on this iconic ballet, with ballerinas needing even more fluidity and graceful movements to bring this beloved fairytale to life.
Of course, back in 1832, the fashion wasnât all flowing white gowns! In Derbyshire, my beloved home, ladies were still wearing their fashionable corsets and crinolines, so perhaps a few ballet-loving women may have borrowed some inspiration from the Parisian trendsetters!
Weâll get more into the progression of the tutu over the coming weeks, but today is about acknowledging those crucial first steps in its creation! That 1832 premiere really changed the ballet game. It started a ballet fashion revolution! Imagine being one of those audience members in the Paris Opera, watching ballerinas glide with ethereal beauty and wondering if they might just take up ballet themselves. Itâs an intoxicating sensation!
As I've mentioned before, I'm always hoping to get all of you to wear pink tutus. However, even if you donât want to twirl in a pink tutu, maybe todayâs Tutu Tuesday has given you some motivation to buy a ticket to a local ballet performance and support the magic! Remember, itâs about that love for movement, expression, and yes, sometimes a little bit of extra fluff!
I can't wait to meet you all on my next #TutuTuesday, my loves! Keep dancing and keep twirling! đ©°
