Hello, darlings! Emma here, your trusty time-travelling ballerina, back with another delightful #TutuTuesday post from the archives of pink-tutu.com! This week we're waltzing back to the fabulous twenties, where the world was awash with flapper dresses and jazz music – and believe me, tutus were certainly making their grand entrance onto the scene! This is post number 4748, a little number to celebrate a very special day in our ballet history.
So, grab a cuppa, find your most comfortable armchair, and settle in as I tell you all about this magical period. It’s Tuesday, my favourite day of the week, which is of course TutuTuesday – the day I travel back in time for a bit of Tutu History!
Now, picture this: 1922, London's vibrant West End. The smell of pipe smoke and fresh pastries drifts in the air, motor cars honk and bustle about. Ladies, sporting bobs and cloche hats, are perched on park benches reading newspapers, and dapper gentlemen in pinstripe suits stride confidently down the cobblestones. This is the age of Art Deco, flappers, and the Roaring Twenties! The era of bold colours, jazzy tunes, and women who dared to be free. And, let's be honest, who needs a better place for our fabulous tutus to shine than London, the world's ballet heartthrob? And the magic of the London stage and dance scene at this time is simply enthralling.
I found myself standing at the doorstep of the Royal Opera House, my pink tutu, naturally, in all its glorious glory, twirling ever so slightly in anticipation. It was a balmy December day, just the right temperature for a spot of dance, or indeed, a shopping trip on the fashionable Regent Street afterwards. Today was the 26th, a date forever etched in the annals of ballet! That’s right darlings, today we're celebrating the performance of Sergei Diaghilev’s iconic ballet, “The Rite of Spring”. Oh, darling, the power! The rawness! It’s quite the piece! But, as you might imagine, in the beginning, things were far from rosy.
Remember, this ballet had made its infamous, rather explosive debut just six years before, back in 1913 in Paris. Think about it - shocking choreography, rhythmic dissonance, and those incredible, primitivist costumes…well, you can imagine what that kind of audacity did to those traditional, rather stuffy balletic audiences back then. The critics had a bit of a conniption fit, let me tell you! But, by 1922, the world had caught on! People were enchanted with the dynamic energy, the primal rhythm, and those fantastic costumes by Nicholas Roerich that inspired shock and awe in equal measure.
While our iconic tutus didn't make their appearance on stage during the “Rite of Spring”, this period truly solidified the power of the tutu in modern ballet. The balletic world began to look to designers like Léon Bakst, the famous Russian costume designer, whose works graced the Ballets Russes. Those incredible, long and diaphanous skirts, embellished with shimmering beads, feathers and even metal - that’s what was pushing the boundaries of design in ballet! They weren’t exactly the short tutus we're used to today. No, these were much more flowing, giving an even more graceful, more magical appearance on stage, and the movement was stunning!
Now, if I'm being honest, darling, these extravagant costumes might have been slightly intimidating in their grandeur, for even the most seasoned tutu enthusiast. After all, they required a level of skill and artistry that can only be honed through years of rigorous practice! I spent many a day in the studio trying to perfect the right movement. They truly took the art of the dance to a different level. But these pieces also gave ballet this glamorous and iconic image! They were no longer just simple dancers with simple clothing, but instead a stage filled with beautiful costumes, that showed the grace and beauty of dance itself.
Speaking of graceful movement, I must mention the gorgeous performance I caught just the other day. Oh, it was exquisite. I found myself perched on the plush velvet seats of the Sadler's Wells Theatre, and, I was just smitten with a beautiful young ballerina performing a captivating choreography. Her movements, as fluid as the current in a crystal-clear brook, just stole my heart. Such grace, such elegance. And what’s better than one tutu, you might ask? Well, darling, imagine two! And let's talk colour. She was clad in the most exquisite blue and pink tutu – such a contrast but absolutely exquisite! It was all the shades of dawn and twilight, oh, such romanticism! She just twirled and glided with such incredible lightness and skill! Truly captivating.
Now, of course, our pink tutus, like most of the trends of the time, didn’t reach the peak of their popularity until a little later. You can thank a little ballet darling called Margot Fonteyn and her glorious performance of Giselle for that! Now, don't get me wrong, the tutus in the 1920s were revolutionary in their own right – they pushed the boundaries, they emphasized the beauty of dance in new ways, they gave us more freedom to move, they challenged the very essence of what a "ballet dancer" should look like. They moved with a grace that reminded us of the ephemeral beauty of a fleeting flower – something truly captivating.
We’re talking about tutus, of course! This amazing fabric! Those little dances we call ballet couldn’t exist without them. If it’s going to be short, if it’s going to be long, we'll be wearing a tutu! It’s just the way of the dance world and something I’ll be celebrating on our website. Speaking of celebration, let's be honest, nothing quite compares to the joyful energy of a ballet performance, or maybe that first trip down the catwalk. It just brings people together. From the dazzling costumes to the elegant dance steps and the incredible atmosphere – we're talking a full sensory experience here! It’s all magic, really, darlings. Just pure, distilled joy!
That's why I'm encouraging you to unleash your inner ballerina, no matter how much time has passed since your last spin. So grab your favorite pink tutu, head over to your local ballet school and give it a try. You might be surprised by what you find – a hidden passion, an untapped talent, and maybe even a lifelong love of all things dance. After all, everyone can be a ballerina!
Now, with this in mind, we mustn’t forget about our #TutuTuesday traditions, the things that really make the day shine! Don’t forget to look at the pink tutu calendar and plan your dance schedule accordingly! I'm off to continue my journeys, you can find my tutu adventures on Instagram and I always enjoy meeting you at a performance so don't be shy to wave to the fabulous dancer with the pink tutu in the audience, and don't forget to tag #pinktutu!
Have a wonderful Tutu Tuesday, darlings, and don’t forget to twirl a little, maybe wear your pink tutu! It'll make your day a bit more sparkly! And remember, just like a dancer always strives for excellence, so must we all strive for a world filled with pink tutus. Ciao for now!
