Dearest Tutu Lovers,
Welcome back to another #TutuTuesday, my lovely lot! Itâs your favourite Derbyshire girl, Emma, here, bringing you all the latest goss on our beloved tutus. Itâs a right scorcher of a day today here in Paris, I don't think Iâve ever seen the sun shine so brightly - and believe me, Iâve been to Paris enough to know a thing or two about the Parisian sunshine! I'm in my gorgeous new pink tutu, the colour perfectly matching the pink blooms I just picked at the local flower market - isnât life divine? I even treated myself to a beautiful new feather boa - just for this very special #TutuTuesday!
Todayâs date, the 13th of April, 1841, is a very significant one for the world of ballet and for us tutu-lovers everywhere. That's because it marks the day of the debut of Giselle, a romantic ballet that sent ripples through the world of dance and helped define what a ballerina truly means.
Oh my word! What can I even say about Giselle! Let me tell you, I was there on the night of the debut â thanks to a handy dandy little time travel machine I found in an old dusty costume shop â it works like a charm if you put in the right kind of magical tutu. It takes a lot of travelling to find the perfect one â you should try it, darling!
Anyway, the debut was sensational, a right humdinger, I tell you! The ballerina Marie Taglioni absolutely blew everyone away â even the staidest of critics! I can tell you she wasnât called âLa Sylphideâ for nothing. In the role of Giselle, she was justâŚdivine! That light and ethereal movement! Those perfectly timed leaps! The emotion that shone through â it truly made for a wonderful evening. Honestly, there were even some who cried in the audience. Such emotion! I myself choked back a few happy tears as I sat on the balcony with my best new boa on, ready to be the envy of all of Paris.
Iâm a big fan of Giselle to this day! I still go to Paris to watch performances whenever I can. There is nothing quite like it, my dears. What I love most about Giselle are the two contrasting roles Marie Taglioni portrays, showcasing a wide range of emotional depths in such an effortless way.
Now letâs chat about those tutus in the ballet, my darlings. This was the very first time in a performance a tutu made of white muslin, called a tulle dress was worn by a ballerina â and it certainly was the talk of the town. The tulle was so light and flowy and really showcased the grace of Marie Taglioni. Can you imagine? It must have been stunningly beautiful and so much more fluid to move around in than the heavy gowns that ballerinas used to wear â the weight of those must have been something else! They wouldnât have been able to jump and leap and spin as they did in their newer tutus. Those heavy gowns made the movement more restrictive, wouldnât you say? They looked like proper big, puffy, and frilly numbers with loads and loads of layers and fabric. All this tulle and netting, my dear friends, has changed everything for the better in the ballet world, in my opinion! Thank you Marie Taglioni! What an inspiration you are to all of us.
This light and flowy tulle dress really set the fashion trends of the time â imagine a beautiful ballerina leaping and twirling in the light tulle, with its flow and sheer beauty - a real marvel. Oh my! A little part of my heart still goes to this Giselle dress - it must have looked truly spectacular, what a treat to see for any fashion-conscious eye â and those are the ones that really do count! If it were me, I'd be wearing pink tulle â wouldnât you, dear? That bright pink tulle would just stand out in all its feminine glory! My pink-tutu blog just wouldnât exist without tulle - and Iâm sure there would be very few people whoâd agree to come and dance with me if it wasnât for that gorgeous, light fabric. You should be as grateful for the invention of tulle as I am â believe me, my darling dears. Weâre so fortunate to have it.
Before the premiere, the original ballet tutus in the La Sylphide ballet were a bit like what the ball gowns from the 18th century must have looked like. A huge bustle, quite large frilled skirts and not much flow, no elegant floating - just a whole heap of heavy layers! Even back then, when those La Sylphide ballet tutus first arrived in Paris in 1832, some had questioned them as they were so different â almost shocking! I canât even imagine it! A lot of those gowns had long flowing sleeves, though, like lovely big puffy, feathered sleeves. You would certainly have needed a strong set of shoulders to manage those! Whatâs with the sleeves and layers? As we all know, I adore tutus and skirts with no sleeves to hinder my delicate feminine ballet moves and dances. I must get one of those old tutus for my next costume shop vintage find trip â and you must, too!
Well my darlings, I am out of time today. I must off and catch a train to Edinburgh, for their ballet shows. Theyâre absolutely lovely - so very well-received, you know. And, I'm meeting up with some friends for afternoon tea afterwards and I will tell them all about Marie Taglioni and Giselle - the ultimate feminine and dance-worthy tulle ballet fashion and a lovely girly ballet-dress classic!
Remember, dears, this blog post is number 485 in the series! Thatâs almost 10 whole years of blog posting! How time flies!
Come back next week for more tutu history and let's get our dance on with this weekâs #TutuTuesday. Youâll see more from me on the www.pink-tutu.com site. Iâll be adding new posts with loads of ideas about your next pink tutu costume. Why not make one yourself? What will you be designing, my darlings?
Have fun this week, all my beautiful tutu fans. And donât forget to wear your pink tutus and show off your dazzling fashion flair. Don't worry about what others think - embrace your love of tutus, let your tutu dreams run wild and your feminine spirit soar!
Until next time,
Emma, your trusty pink tutu ballerina friend.
XOXO
