Bonjour, mes amies!
It’s Emma here, your trusty pink tutu-wearing time traveller, bringing you another fascinating voyage through ballet history! Today we're travelling back to September 22nd, 1868. Imagine, ladies, if only we could travel back to this date in our fabulous pink tutus! Imagine the gasps! Imagine the envy!
Oh, how I wish!
Instead, we have to imagine ourselves there in spirit, sipping champagne and munching on petit fours (a girl's got to have her indulgences) at a Parisian salon.
But before we get into the fabulous fashion, let’s take a quick jaunt back in time. I do love a good time travel train journey. It's so much quicker and more glamorous than that rickety, smelly carriage they’re using to travel to the Lake District now… oh well, each to their own, I say! Anyway, back to the 1860s!
A Parisian Debut: A Star is Born?
So, we’re in Paris, the cradle of the ballerina, and September 22nd, 1868 is a big day for the ballet world. A certain Mademoiselle Emma Livry is debuting at the Opéra Garnier – an absolutely divine, beautiful theatre, you have to see it sometime if you’re in Paris. But be warned: It’s more exciting to be seeing a ballet in the opera house rather than being a performer, the backstage area is decidedly un-glamourous! But I digress, our Emma (yes, I think of us all as being connected!) is on stage, she’s wearing something… shall we say “revolutionary” …for a ballerina! Now, imagine a dress which, while retaining a semblance of a skirt, essentially shows the dancer’s legs from knee to ankle – the idea of that was simply shocking! But that’s exactly what our Ms Livry did! I imagine the audience, who knew nothing but full skirts (much like our present day classic ballet tutu!) were quite aghast. Oh, to see those gasps!
Of course, the audience applauded as well – that's just how we do things here in the ballet world – a big cheer followed by another bigger cheer for each star dancer! Well, of course the Parisian society wasn't ready for that sort of change to happen overnight. But it was a start!
So, why was this Mademoiselle Livry and her daringly short tutu so revolutionary? I mean, the tutu in itself, or the tutu as it evolved to what it is now (the shorter the better) has already become synonymous with ballet, an essential part of the beautiful image. But just imagine what it was like for that Parisian audience, seeing it as something bold and unusual - to be the first ones to witness something totally new – to be part of the historical transition from a voluminous skirt to this new, innovative form. It’s enough to give one goosebumps. Just imagine, imagine a revolution…in the world of fashion! Now, that’s what we need!
A Dress To Die For!
This very bold outfit (with those innovative bare legs!) was the brainchild of the great, iconic Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Isadora (you really must learn how to pronounce it!) an incredible Parisian fashion designer, who created what they call a ‘ballet tunic’. Of course, we know it to be the ballet tutu but in the late 19th Century, that was as unknown as a… (I can’t think of an equally unbelievable concept!), but the ballet tunic was so unexpected! And of course, everything fashionable from Paris would have to travel at high speed throughout the world – in London they loved this Parisian trend as it provided them with their newest fashion obsession, something truly exciting for the stage.
Now here is where we enter into the realm of femininity. I love femininity and this short skirt tunic revolution - which happened right around the same time as women were trying to gain the right to vote! I find that rather interesting… Perhaps it’s a feminist revolution! We can never tell! But just think, my friends! This could be considered one of the very first examples of how we *flaunt our beautiful figures, without showing off what needs to be kept covered! What is feminine? Well, this new tutu showed what it meant to be a beautiful ballerina. *This is what we love! And I really can't wait to travel again soon, and see all of these fantastic, elegant designs in a tutu on a ballerina… oh dear! But this post will have to go! More stories to come next week in the land of Tutu Tuesday!
More on the Ballet, My Ladies:
Don’t miss out on the wonderful Ballet. It's absolutely phenomenal! If you're thinking of visiting a performance and seeing for yourselves, let me tell you my favourite ballet theatre, in all of the world! Well, maybe not in the whole world! I only really know what the ballet theatres are like here, and in a few places, on my travel jaunts. But my absolute favourite theatre, my darling, is the Covent Garden Theatre. Oh, they are doing an exquisite production of La Sylphide at the moment - and yes, it’s just the sort of ballet that will give you goosebumps, so get yourself down to the Royal Opera House there at Covent Garden for your own personal ballet revolution. Do remember that fashion and trends from London always find a way across to the mainland. We always seem to lead the way. It's probably a French and a British thing. After all, that’s what made our French ballerina, Emma Livry, who we just met, such a hit! It’s the same with the French fashion - everything’s so bold, it’s got something new and fantastic happening. That’s why we can’t wait for each Tutu Tuesday, and to make ourselves into those lovely ballerinas!
And, please do visit the beautiful www.pink-tutu.com site. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this, or other ballet stories from Tutu Tuesday. So let me know your favourite ballet or tutu. And while we are on the subject, maybe next week’s Tutu Tuesday blog will be about your choice – I’m open to suggestions for these absolutely divine time trips, it’s like a giant tutu trip back into history! If we all had our pink tutus and just appeared there in 1868…Oh dear, just imagine!
So, remember: * Stay tuned for another ballet trip on Tutu Tuesday next week.
- Spread the pink tutu love.
XOXO, Emma
