Bonjour, darling tutus! Welcome back to Pink-Tutu.com and your favourite Tuesday feature, my weekly ballet tutu history journey!
Today's jaunt whisks us back to a truly captivating date, the 12th of May, 1846. It was a Tuesday, of course, like today! But oh, darling, so much has changed in our world since then! Today we're taking a carriage (because that's what fashionable ladies did) back to Paris, the heart of the ballet world. I can practically smell the fresh croissants from my little French hotel and I’ve just finished browsing some glorious shops along the Champs-Élysées! This bustling, vibrant city is truly a dream for a tutu enthusiast like myself.
As we all know, tutus are the embodiment of elegance, of effortless movement and grace, and so we'll go where the art of ballet blossoms!
Now, dear readers, as a modern ballerina with an old soul, I know how much you appreciate a bit of history sprinkled with whimsy. Just like a beautiful, swirling tutu, let's explore the ballet history of that magnificent day.
What a time to be alive, though. Remember this, we’re talking 1846. Fashion was all about layers, my dear! Think corseted bodices, skirts so wide you could practically waltz within them! I've been doing some exploring here in Paris and some say that Marie Taglioni was actually the inventor of the tulle tutu back in 1839 - who knew? Imagine having that legacy? Just as our queen of the dance stage. We owe her so much for this masterpiece of costume.
I know I’ve already mentioned the bustle in the shops – oh darling, there are some exquisite shops with beautiful things in the window displays in Paris. We could certainly be distracted by this today and lose our thread with this tutu timeline so let's focus on where the real action is for a ballerinas of this time - the Theâtre de l'Opéra. Ah yes! What happened on this Tuesday, you might ask? Let’s go into the history, darling. What does our dance calendar tell us for 12th May 1846 - well it’s was a thrilling performance of "Giselle". Can you believe? So, imagine that - It's the most romantic ballet, isn't it? You just feel it with each and every pirouette, a true whirlwind of emotion. Just like a ballerina twirling in their perfectly ruffled, flowing tutu. It’s the perfect embodiment of the feminine grace and beauty we celebrate each week in this here Tutu Tuesday blog post.
Just picturing the dancers flitting across that grand stage. Now this ballet - "Giselle" is set in 1840 and in those days, my darling, imagine! Just how those ladies had to get their beautiful ballet legs ready to twirl and leap. How was their life - can you even imagine a ballerina in those times?
Well we are so lucky today! As always I’ve got some insider information and I found some truly fascinating facts about ballerinas from that era that I’m so excited to share with you. Imagine dancing in your beautiful tutu with all that heavy makeup - it’s a life so much more glamorous today. Back then it wasn't simply a hop, skip, and jump, no! They were masters of an art, every pose perfected and practised with a grace beyond compare. These ballerinas back then trained in very, very rigorous fashion. They practised hours upon hours each day. Oh dear! And it wasn't always a delight either. Some even practiced on hard, stone floors. Can you imagine our feet and our tutu?
There’s another rather interesting fact. I know a lot of dancers like their “sugar and spice and everything nice”, I do too but - can you imagine having to eat something else - a very, very small portion of food before performing a ballet show. Back then they actually believed eating a full meal before their ballet shows, meant that the dancers would dance slowly - can you even imagine?? Imagine that in this day and age! It seems as if that was a secret technique used by dancers and a truly interesting one to me too. Imagine - a secret to dance performance. A delicious little story I thought was really rather fabulous to share with you all.
So as a ballerina and your blogger extraordinaire for www.pink-tutu.com - let's get inspired by our dancing history and continue our amazing Tutu Tuesday dance adventure to Paris 1846.
Speaking of inspirations, today I’m sharing an enchanting Parisian inspiration, my dear reader – this is one of the highlights from this Paris adventure! It's for all you wonderful tutu enthusiasts out there! This one is truly inspired by Paris 1846 -
It's a dreamy, romantic creation called "The Giselle" tutu, and it is so beautifully blush. I even have matching shoes for my dear, fabulous pink ballerinas. Imagine wearing that tutu, the ruffle, the swirling skirts and beautiful tulle. It’s perfect for that special day for my ballet family and will be featured in our next Pink-Tutu.com boutique sale! We even have it in a glorious pink! A real treat! This will go down in our history of beautiful tutus!
So we must never forget the glorious beginnings, of our beautiful tutu’s from back in those grand times! These beautiful tutus have changed my life just as they changed the lives of ballerinas all those years ago. It's the most elegant ballet, so airy and light. Every step in that show just embodies pure, sweet innocence. I always leave feeling light on my toes.
Just like all you my lovely pink-tutu wearers - you'll always leave the stage light on your toes.
Before I take a turn on the dance floor, as a lovely treat for you my tutu-tastic dancers I have a delicious recipe for your Tuesday afternoon - this will keep you and your tummy feeling full and glamorous - it’s so simple – even a ballerina in the year 1846 would approve!
It’s called “Pink Delight”!
Pink Delight – a ballerina’s dream dessert:
Here's what you’ll need:
- One tin of condensed milk
- 1 bag of pink marshmallows
- Pink food colouring
- Half a cup of fresh raspberries
Instructions:
Mix your condensed milk, pink marshmallows and some of your pink food colouring - and a small dash of that food colouring together. Then, pop this mix onto a plate, and add some of those luscious fresh raspberries.
Delicious and beautiful!
Just like your pink tutus. It's a recipe you can do right from your own kitchen and as your fellow ballerinas I have the biggest sweet tooth you can even imagine and it's delicious – so delicious in fact - even a ballerina of the time could give it a go! It’s simple and delightful, don't you think?
This tutu is for the woman who just doesn't want to say no! Who loves to twirl, spin, jump and say YES! I just adore the romantic, historical background that comes with this show. We always remember where we’ve come from here at pink-tutu.com. I've got so many places to visit, so much more history and more beautiful, enchanting tutus. So come back every week, here to www.pink-tutu.com - let's journey back through time with our history of ballet and beautiful, glorious tutus,
It’s a pleasure, Love from Emma!
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