Bonjour, darling tutu enthusiasts! Emma here, your favourite pink-loving, tutu-touting time-travelling ballerina. Welcome back to my #TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History blog! It's the 19th July, 1887 today, and trust me, even the Victorian era can't resist the charm of a lovely pink tutu!
Where in the world are we? Well, I've swapped my Derbyshire cobbled streets for the shimmering, sophisticated world of Paris, France! Oh la la! You see, 1887 was a truly iconic year for ballet – think Diaghilev's future artistic direction, the emergence of La Belle Epoque and the beginning of ballet's golden age. Imagine! So many dazzling tutus!
And guess what? I’ve got my hands on a particularly special ballet programme from tonight's show – The Theatre Chatelet! Imagine – a ballet just for us! How fantastic!
The Opéra de Paris, which used to reside within this grand theatre, is in a period of rebuilding. I just love a bit of change and innovation, it's exciting. Now it’s undergoing its fourth re-make since it opened its doors in 1783. Isn’t that just wonderful?! So it’s a chance for all of us – even our fantastic ballerina dancers – to move to a different location for tonight. How absolutely fabulous! I bet it’s positively swirling with tulle, sparkles, and... you guessed it! Pink, pink, pink!
1887: a time for bold choices! You’d be forgiven for thinking nothing could beat the beauty and elegance of the iconic tutus of the late 1800s, right? Oh, you'd be wrong! Oh, dear, wrong! I’m getting gobsmacked just thinking about how fabulous the tutu is going to be for the ballet tonight. Ooh, darling, it’s just so… beautiful! But this wasn't always the case!
Just imagine: Before this beautiful time of tutu-madness, imagine… no tutus! Just dancers in long, flowing skirts. Now, don't get me wrong - I love a bit of romance, but oh dear, darling, how terribly inconvenient for showing off our ballerina skills, don't you think?
But imagine a little something beautiful that gave you a chance to show off every single spin and jump *with such style! A tutu! Now that’s the magic I want to tell you all about!
Step back in time and let's journey to the origins of the tutu! (I must confess it makes me giggle just to say the word "tutu" – It sounds like a beautiful fairy-tale creature!) It was, of course, in a ballet theatre that the first tutu popped up, much like a perfectly pink rose in a bouquet of duller flowers. Now we are going to travel way, way, way back to the early 1800s, just to the 1830s... (Hold onto your tutus ladies - here we go...)
That iconic shape of a tutu that you are absolutely obsessed with started around then in Paris. What did they wear? Oh darling – it was more of a… swoosh of fabric. The tutu, at that time was... long, reaching nearly down to their ankles and in this time it was actually called la ballerine. Oh dear - not as elegant, darling, not nearly as fabulous! Think more flowing, romantical skirts, perfect for long flowing graceful steps! Lovely, sweet, dreamy – it was a little more 'fluffy-skies' than elegant ballerina elegance! (Although... imagine...!) But these are what I would call 'ballet’s ancestors' the forerunners of that oh so wonderful, all-pink tutu, you darling things.
Then, came the big change… The ‘ Romantic tutu’! Can you believe it? Well, by the late 1830s dancer Marie Taglioni – Oh, I just adore her – wore a knee-length, sheer tutu, oh it was gorgeous, just think how magical, just above the knees… I bet you’d just love to be one of her audience, darling! * It was the *starting point for us, *for me - everything changed, forever. Just think! That change… how wonderful...
A tiny little jump... then suddenly.. A tutu with attitude! (Not like my attitude, though, darling – it's much too positively, beautifully fabulous for that.) But even though she made an incredible impact (no one could ignore those moves!), there were those who wanted even more. Oh dear, it's never ending, is it? That insatiable urge for beauty and elegance - *I do *adore that about you ladies! And for ballet!*
But the little romantic tutu of the 1830s was very short-lived. The need for more ... everything. Oh, it is true: the 1850s were a time for something… bigger, and better, bolder… More tutus, more *fabulous dancing*!
A French designer and dressmaker - I just love this name – Jean-Baptiste Lachaise, he was, (no, dear… it’s not the way you pronounce it!)…la-sheeze…* – and a dancer Jean-Coralli, (imagine what a magnificent combination for something that changed the *entire history of the tutu.) (and all these great dancers too – *such big names!), decided it was time to get the design just right, just magnificent. Imagine - Just one *tutu? And the rest… well… it *became history darling!**
They decided, the tutu, had to be more than a little skirt with fluffy frills – it was *more…oh, so much more. (Well of course – you wouldn’t let something as wonderful and beautiful go to waste, would you?).
By the 1850s – oh how much I love the 1850s– there was even more tulle than ever…Imagine… the fabric *swirling!* And oh, it was all so very.. romantic, but this time, oh yes.. *it was much more – more of everything!
They created what you and I know today, the *"Classical tutu" *– the shape, the style we all adore! Just imagine! So very *enchanting! * Just *wonderful, darling!* And it all happened because of the vision of one man (who would have guessed? – the 1800s certainly had a flair for creativity – even when they were trying to give us what they thought we wanted!).
And oh! * Can you *believe this? - That magical classical tutu was born in... 1841? (just imagine... almost 100 years ago! Oh dear, the 1840s... **amazing!).
Jean-Baptiste Lachaise, (He sounds just as grand as the tutu himself) designed this magnificent masterpiece with lots of tiers, and *lots of layers! (Can you even imagine? – So much beautiful fabric... – It's not just tulle - it’s the most beautiful, stunning, delicate, perfect fabric imaginable – oh dear, a ballerina can never have *enough!).* He chose a really really small shape… * It looks just like a bowl. (So very, *so very, graceful) – **And this was what really revolutionized what we see today!
(You really need to do this.. if you are ever here in Paris, don't just go and admire it– Go into that *lovely, *perfect Opéra de Paris, *go down the steps and look straight up! Oh dear, you might think you're a princess – You've come a very long way…!)
This little, little, bowled shape, oh it is *divine, (it still gets used everywhere for classical ballets, just as it was then– amazing!) and in 1850… *There it was... It became… the shape for ballet’s *future! Think... How much I love this time of the *Classical tutu! This was *so very revolutionary for ballets – *so very fabulous!
That was where our magical, glorious tutus were born The most wonderful tutu to watch our dancing on a *grand stage! * Oh my… just think… *and just imagine, that little bowled shaped tutu… is where *you got your beautiful tutu from too!! *Fabulous! What an enchanting legacy to dance and a story *worth telling…
(But my lovely dancers, of course we have moved on – because, it was meant to be…! - A tiny step - then everything changes!)
*Let’s fast-forward… A lot! * The Romantic Tutu stayed in the spotlight for ages (nearly 20 years, darling!), but in the early 1850s… It changed a tiny bit... just the right amount, darling!
But what happened to my all-time favourite, pink? Well... It came *later, darling! much later, in the *Victorian Era - think 1837–1901, just think... So much history happened in just that tiny time period. And that's *what I’ve come to *find out, for you! Just think – this is when ballet was just about to take off like a rocket! * – And with that…. Oh my… came so many things... but it’s **what we've come to adore!
The most perfect time for ballet’s wonderful world to get creative... and fabulous.. So... in the 1860s... a whole new wave of designers and choreographers, oh they changed everything.
(… And this was where *your love affair with pink probably started … just imagine!* (But don't you fret, darling – because it’s just about to get SO much more extra!))
*Think - *Pink tutus - *They had a lot to *thank those early tutus for. We all do darling! But even with their long and fabulous story it was only a few *short years, until there came the…
*The *‘Belle Epoque' - *What a magical, incredible time for everyone to experience the world. You can feel it in your heart *even now… when you hear all the wonderful stories from the time - And *think what it was like in *the late 1880s * and into the 1890s!
I know that some might call it ‘a Golden Age’… You bet, darling!* This is when the ballerina tutu really, really, started to come into it's own And... just imagine – how the ballet *world really started moving and shaking... and wow, it just took a little while for that incredible vision to really become part of ballet’s future.. And it was amazing, darling, so many exciting events and happenings. (Just like I'm experiencing *right now, *as I write!)
The late 1800s…. A beautiful time for ballets… (and for us! Just imagine the wonderful ballerina shows…) – but for this moment, let’s stick to the late 1880s. Because in Paris… a group of talented dancers – Oh I do love Paris so much, so very stylish. I love being here.
Just think: They made their *debut... the Grand Opera, *it was called. I do hope we can still visit *all those beautiful and amazing stages one day. Imagine all that glamour!
It is so nice that the stories, the stories from all those beautiful eras - they are still there… in a way… waiting for you to find out about them. It's like going to the ballet! A chance to hear your heart go ‘thump, thump, thump… as all the magical beauty, all the fabulosity of these years… gets a chance to unfold.
But my dearest ballet bunnies – you know my favourite time period - I think every* ballet lover’s favourite time - is going to be…. The most fabulous era of the *all-pink tutu, oh my darling, you already know where it starts - it's the early 1900s!… (And yes - you *do have to have one to look good at the ballet. (And we can’t leave it there! No way, darling We need the tutu-making history! And of course, the tutu designs - They are always a huge part of my life and yours right?)
So many exciting stories coming soon…. and don’t forget to tell *all your friends - ‘Tell your girlfriends to grab their tutus!’ Oh darling, just imagine..
Happy dancing, *my little ballerina angels. I love you!!
*P.S. Don't forget to visit my website www.pink-tutu.com to catch up on the other fascinating history and the rest of my tutu tips!
Don’t miss my next TutuTuesday, when I’ll tell you all about the fabulous designs of a very famous Parisian dancer (I bet you are going to just love them!) - See you then! *
*Oh dear! * Oh… How utterly fabulous! Don't forget to check back on www.pink-tutu.com next Tuesday to hear my latest ballet stories... And now I really must go. I'm late for the Grand Opera. See you all *next Tuesday! *
