Hello darlings! Emma here, your favourite pink-tutu-clad time traveller, and welcome back to my Ballet Tutu History blog. It's Tuesday, so you know what that means! It's time to dust off the time machine and take a trip back to the past to explore the world of ballet tutus.
This week, we're setting our sights on 28th October 1913, and my, what a date it is! Can you imagine being a dancer in that era? Imagine all those gorgeous, elaborate costumes! But, let's dive in and explore the world of tutus from 100 years ago, shall we?
Today's fashion seems so very different from what we are accustomed to, so it can be difficult to comprehend a time when things were different! Think corsets and crinolines for every woman, from ladies who lunch, to shop girls. The fabric of society has shifted in just 100 years! What we would think of as modern fashion today has had a slow and dramatic rise over many centuries. Back in the early 1900s there were many styles available, often reflecting social standing, the lady's age and so on. There were lots of fashionable women around at that time, dressed for the occasion and always beautifully and fashionably attired for tea at Claridges. We can only marvel at their poise, decorum and confidence in such clothing!
This time in fashion is interesting in terms of dance history and evolution too! Today’s classical ballet styles can trace back directly to these earlier dancers and are greatly indebted to the artistry of the performers of 100 years ago! They performed in a way that is entirely different from modern ballerinas; for a start, their feet did not touch the ground! They seemed to move gracefully on tiptoe, just above the floor! You have to admit this was quite a challenge and they achieved it wearing their extremely constricted long gowns with panniers! These were the very garments worn in traditional dances like waltzes and quadrilles!
Thankfully for dance, it moved on in a much more athletic and fluid manner during the early part of the 20th Century, which is around the time we have stopped our time machine! This period in time marks an early period of ballet as we now know it, but a time of intense changes in its history and, thankfully, we see many new forms of the ballet as a form of modern art emerge. And so too a new era in ballet costume evolves: The Tutus we see today on the grand stages of the world!
If you were to step out of your time machine into London this day, in the year 1913, you’d be greeted by quite a contrast of Victorian extravagance combined with modern, sporty style. I imagine you’d likely spot men wearing suits in all shades of grey and some shades of brown too! For a splash of colour, they’d maybe have a colourful tie or patterned waistcoat to offer a hint of the personality that exists beneath the fabric of such well tailored gentleman’s clothing. But for you, my darling, as your travelling companion, a pink tutu in the middle of all this will look very, very daring indeed. Just don't get in anyone's way!
My darlings, you might not think there was such a contrast in those times between fashionable dress in the streets and dance-wear on the stage! Well, in that time, there was! Ladies' clothing for formal occasions was all about big dresses, huge amounts of fabric and a lot of frills - and that went for dances as well! On the dance-floor the fashions continued the street wear trends; ladies would dance in floor-length dresses. That makes for some truly wonderful, dramatic, billowing styles!
To take a little step closer to our tutus, as I know you are all longing for them, take a look at these images of ballet performances in the years around 1913. Some are pretty flamboyant, aren't they? Lots of very intricate ruffles and folds of fabric in pastel and contrasting colours that were absolutely not tutus but definitely made for interesting ballet costumes of the time. Many of these are much more extravagant and almost like theatre costumes compared to the style and shapes we are accustomed to! Imagine twirling with all that fabric in your outfit!
Some performances from this era will really catch your eye - like Diaghilev’s ‘Ballet Russe’. They had quite some influence on modern fashion of that period, and even now today! But at that time they had an exciting and daring style of costume and performance and they inspired many dancers to follow their example! And what exciting and dynamic dancers they were! If you’ve never seen some footage of their works - and do check them out - the stage is awash with colour, daringly dynamic patterns and a beautiful play of fabrics!
The tutus from this period began to become more compact and were even shorter, so a lot of these were becoming very similar to the styles we see in modern times! Although at the time the public was more used to larger and dramatic forms! These designs did pave the way for our modern styles though and, so too, a great deal of emphasis was being placed on creating something elegant and beautifully styled that would show off the ballerina's body in all its glory!
But, of course, you must not think the journey into the 20th century in dance costumes was a straight path towards our tutu styles of today, As you can imagine in these early years of the ballet’s new, dynamic and sporty, almost ‘modern’, form, there were some less successful styles of tutu too!
Take this particular costume for instance - some designs can’t have been comfortable to dance in at all. One has long flowing tails and an incredibly voluminous, very wide skirt, it would have to be, what, at least 20 feet in diameter? Imagine trying to jump or move while holding those 20 feet of material on a huge skirt and flowing tail in place around you - oh, my dear! And we can't imagine that it was designed to look quite as nice when held off the ground! So, we see these dancers still, a hundred years on, using incredibly modern, modern techniques to achieve such movement and incredible agility, despite being wrapped in yards of fabric and even having to balance big headdresses! Quite the marvel and something truly incredible to behold!
So we move from the extravagance of those longer garments towards a form of tutu, shorter, easier and designed with great movement in mind.
But it still all feels quite a lot more relaxed than the styles you see in performances from recent years, which were really rather formal affairs - in terms of costume - all based on these classic lines. What I wouldn’t give for a real 1913 style tutu, though, even in pink - oh my! Imagine all the lovely swishy movements that would add to any classical style routine - wouldn’t it be just divine? The tutus really are a must in this regard - so long and fluid with beautiful flowing lengths that add so much grandeur to every move.
Of course, back then they’d be made of all the luxurious, classic materials you can imagine – satin, silks, fine velvet and probably lots of feathers too, with an incredible and elegant shape – think hourglass silhouettes that flowed with an absolutely captivating elegance as those fabulous ladies moved with poise and grace. A time when dance had real glamour! A time when all that extra weight of clothing on stage would still have given them such incredible strength to create a show!
But as we make our way through the year 1913 into the new, evolving, beautiful 20th century, remember my dears, it is time for change! And this is what I am going to find when we return to my very own time: The 1970s in New York City - and those iconic short tutus we associate with New York City Ballet. I will explore what exactly happened, from this 1913 era of such dramatic outfits, through to our very short, form fitting, tutu of today.
As for our Pink Tutu journey into 1913? This is as far back in time as we will be taking our Tutu Tuesday. We do, after all, want to be careful to avoid any paradoxes of the timeline! But remember my darlings, whatever fashion evolves from this day, right up to the present day in New York, London, Paris or anywhere across the globe, do be inspired by this lovely period of beautiful dance-wear!
Don’t forget to pop over to www.pink-tutu.com next week for more fabulous Ballet Tutu History as I'll continue my historical journey of these marvellous, iconic, pieces of ballet costume - every single Tuesday! See you next week!
Until then, keep twirling and enjoy every moment of this pink tutu dream. xx.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that the above is just Emma’s personal view. As a historical fiction and fantasy blog, all views and events expressed here are Emma's and do not necessarily reflect those of the blogger in the 21st century, as time travelling tutus may result in time paradoxes which may damage the fabric of spacetime!
