Hello lovelies, and welcome back to my #TutuTuesday blog! š I'm Emma, your resident pink tutu-wearing time-travelling ballerina, and today, we're twirling back to June 6th, 1837! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's the year Queen Victoria took the throne and tutus were really starting to take the stage! (Literally, they were everywhere!) š
It's a journey through time you don't want to miss! You can catch me on www.pink-tutu.com every Tuesday for more historical ballet goodness. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and TikTok, too, for my dancey daily posts and backstage snippets from my exciting travels! Now, on with the show...
This is blog post #284, by the way - I've been working on my time-travel chronologies! It seems like only yesterday I was posting about the glorious Parisian Opera Ballet of the 1830s, and here we are, a few years on, watching those dramatic romantic tutu forms evolve! And evolve they are! Thereās so much happening in the world of dance at this time. Itās a beautiful blur of travelling dancers, glittering jewels and innovative choreography!
Ballet Takes the Stage:
Now, letās take a peek at the scene in June of 1837. Just a year prior, that stunning, iconic dancer Marie Taglioni had wowed audiences with her lightness and grace in the iconic La Sylphide, which featured a tutu for the first time that had a shorter length, showcasing the legs to glorious effect. Imagine - those amazing legs just going up, up, up! I wish I had been there to see it with my own eyes! It must have been magical!
You see, back in the day, it was the ladies who started the whole tutu movement. Think about it! The earlier ballerinas wore very cumbersome outfits and it really restricted their movement! It must have been exhausting trying to dance gracefully! So when Taglioni took the stage in a soft, flowing skirt, it changed everything! Just look at how elegantly it flowed - it really emphasized the graceful and fluid moves of the ballet. It's all about movement and expressing oneself with your body, and a light tutu allows dancers to do just that. And that's why they started to really take off ā they brought so much beauty to ballet!
This June, I imagine audiences were still recovering from the shock of a new ballet dancer named Carlotta Grisi! Yes! Her name might not be familiar today, but back in 1837, she was all the rage. She brought a powerful femininity to the dance floor with a stage presence that simply took your breath away! (There's still time to check her out online - she had quite the dance career, especially for a ballet dancer who started out so young!
It seems this trend is here to stay. Everyone loves a classic, timeless ballerina style, donāt you think? But with so much happening in the world of ballet right now, we can expect even more change - and I'm ready for it!
Time Travelling with Tutu:
Oh, but it wasnāt all about ballerinas! We have the railways to thank for being able to see all these talented performers at the Royal Opera House! My recent trip to London by train was a dream - all that lovely, flowing scenery going by. That journey certainly beats those horse-drawn carriages! š š It was all about luxury, I can tell you, even if I did have to have my darling pink tutu carefully stored away to prevent it getting a bit crumpled! But what do you expect when you're time travelling? It's not always smooth sailing! But I do adore getting dressed up in my fabulous outfits to hit the town and enjoy the entertainment!
Speaking of which - if you find yourself in the Royal Opera House, keep your eye out for the elegant pink boxes - I like to call them Tutu-Boxes! š Thatās where the nobility and high-society folks would sit and watch all the fabulous shows. Just try to imagine yourself at a grand opening, or watching the finest dancers performing in all those glittering jewels!
The Colour Pink:
Donāt you agree that thereās nothing more charming and dainty than a pale, romantic shade of pink for a ballet tutu? Just like the colour of our pretty blooms of springtime, a soft shade of pink gives off this innocent, whimsical air, so perfectly embodying the essence of graceful dancing and artistry. Pink really adds such a touch of femininity. Even the great French ballet master, Jean-Baptiste Gil-Bert, had it in his famous pink room at his private theatre in Paris! You see? Pink has been linked to ballerinas and all things glamorous for years and years!
Speaking of pink and graceful... Let me take you to a lovely little story from Derbyshire! You can always get lovely little pieces for a charming tutu here, just like in the capital. And as I have mentioned in past blogs, it was the ladies of my Derbyshire home town who got me into tutu fashion in the first place! My grandmother has always been an avid fan of ballet, and as a child, I would spend my time helping her design little, tiny tutus for my dolls and then practice performing to my grandma's lovely old recordings of Tchaikovskyās Swan Lake! I would skip around her tiny rose-coloured garden, dancing for my own personal audience, and it all felt like a little magic world of imagination!
What could be more wonderful than dressing up like a lovely fairy dancing in your favourite colours? Donāt you just adore ballet? Donāt worry, it's perfectly okay to get carried away with your imaginations in the pink tutu world! I always do! And, whatās great about time travel is that weāre surrounded by all sorts of inspirations! Thatās what my Tutu Tuesdays are all about: bringing the magical history of tutus alive and sharing my pink tutu adventures with you, my lovelies!
Donāt Forgetā¦:
Donāt forget to follow me at www.pink-tutu.com. If you want to dress like a charming ballerina, visit www.pink-tutu.com/store for exclusive tutu designs and fashion trends from every era! Let me know if you have any comments about my latest adventures or favourite times! I love to hear from you. And please follow me on all my social media channels! (The links are at the bottom of the website). Andā¦ donāt forget, you are all beautiful. You are all dancers! And keep your eyes open for new #TutuTuesday blog posts!
Until next time! š
