Hello my darlings! It's Emma here from Derbyshire, back again for another #TutuTuesday adventure through time! You know the drill – this week, we're taking a peek at the beautiful history of our favourite little fluffy skirt - the ballet tutu - and what a time for a journey this week, as it's June 25th 1918! We are smack-bang in the middle of World War I, yet somehow ballet still manages to offer us a little glimpse of light and joy in the world, a bit of much-needed escapism and gorgeous glamour. And let's face it - tutus just make you feel good!
Oh, I have the most fabulous tutu on today. It's a glorious shade of pink (naturally!) – I have a new obsession with soft coral pinks and light pinks this season - it's absolutely delightful against the crisp white of the cotton I've chosen for the layers underneath. This particular tutu is just perfect for a little vintage feel – the layers are softer, almost like silk chiffon, rather than the tulle we all adore, and they fall to just above the knee, perfect for twirling and twirling, just like they did back then!
Speaking of twirling... right now in the grand salons of Paris, they're celebrating another big day in tutu history! Can you imagine? The Palais Garnier, home to the Opèra de Paris, just reopened its doors. They'd had to close up because of that nasty war you know, but everyone is excited for their big opening – it's their biggest and most grand production, and this is it! – a three-hour spectacular of ballet and drama in one epic masterpiece - Giselle. That's a performance made for twirling and dramatic leaps!
Just imagine – three whole hours! My aching little feet are getting tired just thinking about it. What are they doing on stage? Well, this particular production is packed with every kind of ballet artistry – a whirlwind of emotions that will leave you simply breathless! They've even included a brand new, absolutely glorious, costume designed for the ethereal Queen of the Wilis, a character that you have to just imagine - wearing a shimmering gown, white, pure white and the most exquisite detail! Just thinking about how beautifully they will flow around her is enough to send shivers up my spine, I do think it's time for a dance break!
The history of Giselle is just as spectacular. I do think this was one of the first truly Romantic Ballets you see, one that really embraced a certain feeling of beauty that we all adore! It’s actually inspired by a story - a romantic love story - that would bring tears to my eyes and keep me glued to the edge of the seat - a truly lovely and inspiring story about love, loyalty, betrayal and of course a whole world of ghostly dancers, who come out to play when the sun goes down!
In fact, just about everything in this dance world feels inspired by that beautiful period of history called The Romantics - you've got the story itself - with its love of all things dramatic, beautiful and just a tiny bit dark - but also the costumes and everything we are wearing. These wonderful dance artists really embraced everything that felt poetic and beautiful and even took inspiration from stories about things that made you just want to run away – fairy tales with woodland fairies - it's almost like they imagined up their own perfect, beautiful world, even back then! And who wouldn’t want to step into that beautiful world, especially if it included wearing a fluffy pink tutu!
But the most interesting thing to think about in the context of the tutus that are going to be swirling all over the Palais Garnier stage today – is that, believe it or not, the whole tutu style was going through quite the change just at this moment in time, because the story of the tutu isn’t just about its look, it’s really about how a dancer’s movement was changing too! Think of this like fashion, it’s about the perfect blend of the outfit, the design, but it’s also about the form of the dance and how the dress moves!
Of course, we love to wear those glorious big, romantic, fluffy, multi-layered tutus that we know and adore. But these tutus, as beautiful as they look – just like mine today, they were perfect for the classical style of the day – graceful and soft, with lots of twirling, graceful movements.
However, a new way of dancing was just starting to break onto the stage - one where dancers needed more movement – lots of big leaps and strong and dramatic movements. Those big beautiful tutus, well they really started to get in the way of all the fun - just a bit too much fluff and extra fabric getting caught on everything - you could trip on the excess layers with such energetic dance movements! But then along came this wonderful innovation that really changed everything – it came into fashion around the 1880’s with a little help from a ballet choreographer who came to be called “the father of ballet.”
Who are you thinking of, Emma, you are already making me all excited? I hear you saying. Well, let's go back in time, way back - all the way to 1880 and you'll be saying "I just love tutus!" before we know it, let's get this one straight - Marius Petipa. This is the man that revolutionized the ballet tutu, a ballet tutu designed for everything a ballerina wanted to do on stage – twirl, leap, spin - all in gorgeous tutus – and he was not afraid to innovate! This lovely, graceful, and stylish man, had a passion for ballet – he loved to find ways to create more from ballet – to keep changing and to always be more innovative - and this desire for change just so happened to impact tutus!
Oh, there is so much to love about the tutus from this new era. He thought, “Oh, these big, bulky tutus – we just need a few less layers – fewer layers - that’s the magic of ballet fashion” – and in a single stroke of design, he came up with a brilliant new, stylish, tutu for the era – The Romantic Tutu!
The Romantic Tutu was different! They created something that felt much lighter – but still looked fabulous! It was the right amount of elegant but also felt practical, and even a little more casual. Imagine a light ballerina with a beautiful tutu – they could move, they could dance with a lightness and style they had never achieved before, all whilst keeping that lovely, charming tutu look - but with a lot more movement - it was perfect for leaping and even a bit more dramatic spinning – so very different from what came before!
So this is a beautiful journey, one that is all about change – changing design, changing movement - it is about moving forward and being bold.
It seems fitting then that June 25th 1918 is about to celebrate this revolutionary story in ballet. As we are here today remembering the history of the ballet tutu and what has happened in the past we are also taking time to celebrate something beautiful about ballet itself! We can take this chance to look back and appreciate the legacy of change - how ballet keeps moving forward, how we never stop embracing those lovely new designs - how they constantly reinvent what a tutu can be and how dancers continue to inspire with bold new moves!
Speaking of beautiful tutus and movements - what is coming up in your * *local* * ballet world, my lovelies? This week is the last week of our dance break – time for a little time with family and time to catch up with my lovely friends - you can always tell that you are in a little bit of a *dance state of mind when you are with your friends. And let's be honest, who isn't feeling a little inspired by these dancing days, with such great things coming up in the world of ballet, I cannot wait to share the next journey in #TutuTuesday – we are going to take a little trip to Vienna. Vienna is just overflowing with dance this week!
For the meantime - I hope you have the best time, doing whatever it is you love - whether it’s spinning in your favorite tutu, or making a big trip by train - let's have all the fun in all the little moments. See you on Tuesday, for another amazing #TutuTuesday - we can't wait to travel!
See you soon my lovelies, don’t forget to stay sparkly and always wear pink!
Love,
Emma.
[Picture of Emma in a light pink tulle ballet tutu]
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