Hello darling tutu lovers, welcome back to my #TutuTuesday blog! Today we are going to whisk ourselves back in time to 16th September 1930 and take a look at what was happening in the world of tutus then. As always, I'm in my favourite pink tutu and ready for a fabulously informative journey. And what better way to travel back in time than by train? Just imagine a vintage carriage, a chuffing steam engine and my perfect little pink outfit to match the rose-gold upholstery ā I can't get enough of this time travel, honestly!
It's funny because people don't often think about tutus when they consider 1930. I mean, who associates a delicate, beautiful tutu with the roaring twenties? However, the story of the tutu is long and beautiful, so let's put on our dance shoes and hop right into it.
Let's go! We'll hop on a train, darling!
Back to 1930, to Paris!
This is such an exciting year for tutus, so it's absolutely essential for us to hop on the train, go right to the heart of tutu history, Paris, to be precise. Itās where I can truly revel in all the elegant and intricate detail of Parisian history, fashion and the arts.
Here, I can just imagine the thrill of being part of the artistic scene at this time, right in the centre of this fashionable city. Weāll stop at the Palais Garnier, a stunning venue filled with intricate detail, perfect for a magical ballet performance, you can be certain there are some fabulous tutus twirling under those beautiful chandeliers! There is no place on Earth quite as enchanting and filled with dance! I imagine it filled with dazzling colours, exquisite dresses, dancing in this magnificent, beautiful and inspiring theatre.
In this period the tutus of the day have come a long way from their earlier forms. Back in the early days of ballet the ātutuā wasn't actually called a tutu, it was considered to be an outfit for all of ballet, nothing special about it - the very term tutu, a diminutive form of the French word "tulle", hadn't even emerged as a ballet specific word yet! There was a dress worn for ballet performances and if we consider a "tutu" in terms of our contemporary meaning of "short ballet skirt", that dress was nothing like the short, layered skirt we see on stage now.
Oh yes, the "dress" for ballet, worn from around 1500 to 1830, was rather long and full-skirted. This could have been due to the dresses of the day, but as a ballerina I don't like them at all! It wasn't until about 1830 that the iconic tutu came onto the scene - a moment of pure, pink magic if you ask me! It happened right here in Paris with the first ever tutu called "the tutu a la Pompadour". This one had a very similar design to what we now call a āRomanticā tutu, which, while quite short in the design for the time, was very pretty and light and a far cry from its long and full-skirted ancestor!
I have to go for a tutus, I can't imagine wearing a full skirted ballet outfit - that would make my job so much harder, especially in the demanding art of classical ballet. No wonder ballet took on a romantic quality when the "tutu" was created, and yes darling, that's the point where my lovely, romantic, dreamy colour pink, began to be the key to it all!
Let's talk about colour, and a specific, gorgeous one, I have my own favourite colour and there are good reasons I think it's time to give more attention to the role it has played in ballet and in particular the story of the ballet tutu:
Pink!
Now, if we were in Paris in 1930 I'm sure that in the dance world people would say "But pink is the very last thing we would expect from an item that started to gain popularity as long ago as the 1830s! In those days it was much more likely to be seen in white - but the story of tutus has a really strong connection to the colour pink. I like to think that in this story we can get right to the core of tutu history, so this is the sort of story for my #TutuTuesday post - I want the readers of www.pink-tutu.com to consider it, this beautiful, amazing, lovely, colourful tutu story, in all it's glory. Pink and ballet were the perfect pairing for those pioneering dance outfits from 1830 onward. Pink just embodies such feminine charm. It radiates beauty, it has that feeling of joy and it makes tutus come alive. Imagine the delicate shades of ballet pink, like the blush of a blossoming flower - it's just so stunning!
Well darling, letās leave Paris for a little bit to move on to this fascinating journey, but I know it's something Iām coming back to time and again!
Letās fast-forward to the 1930s and look at how this very special piece of clothing is continuing to be very much a part of the Ballet world.
The 1930s were all about elegance, fluidity and style. Ballet in the 1930s is not only the beautiful performance art we adore today but is at a key point in its history!
Ballet shoes continued to have pointed toes! These pointe shoes were quite different to today, they weren't quite as strong and stable! You can see they have come a long way to what they are today - so much sturdier now and much safer! This decade saw new exciting and different moves made possible by a growing awareness of what the shoe could do for dancers.
Of course the 1930s tutu became as beautiful and graceful as ballet had become! By the late 1930s some designs were moving away from the tutu "a la Pompadour", the traditional one layered with several soft tulle layers to something that was perhaps more revealing, more daring and a move away from the layered effect with more open skirts and shorter layers and much more accentuated waistlines with tighter bodices.
I adore that period style so very much. You just knew theyād get it just right. Those delicate layered tutu skirts, a must-have in a dancer's wardrobe back then! They add such movement and create such magic on stage. A must-have item of wardrobe!
For today, I will go for one thatās short with some extra-wide frills so you see lots of fluffy tutu! You see I'm absolutely in love with those delicate, romantic tulle skirts and they are very much in style and were still in fashion all the way through this decade - as a result this type of design for a tutu is something that would still be very much at home on the ballet stage of today.
If you go back to some early footage of a classic ballet or any type of performance of a 1930s ballet, we can see a beautiful soft and dreamy look in the designs of these skirts - it would be very common to find ballerina tutus in colours of pale peach, rose or soft creams but there was often a lot of use of a "romantic" ballet pink - what I love the most - but with lots of detail! A ballet must-have, it just takes any look to that dreamy, fairy tale stage! And with a perfect amount of fabric, it allowed those incredible leaps to just explode with magic! The design really set a dancerās talent free! The very fact that dancers in this period were increasingly pushing their boundaries in their technical moves must mean that the design of the ballet tutu was just perfect for it, and I love to think that this design came out of a new level of awareness of the power and potential that was in those beautiful tutu skirts.
This amazing design wasnāt a sudden occurrence it evolved, like ballet, gradually over a period, in stages from those longer more full skirted ballet outfits in earlier years. Over a period of time those designs went from long, full and voluminous and evolved towards designs that showed the amazing dancing potential in a ballet outfit. This time travel into 1930 shows us how ballet is an amazing mix of beauty, style and talent - with tutus evolving into some of the most stunning ballet wear of all time. The romantic tutu design - a beautiful design in it's simple elegance, that is in many ways as beautiful now as it was in the 1930s is the essence of ballet and is definitely worth giving some attention to, as the tutu continues to inspire artists, theaters, and dancers - what a story this dress tells!
Well darlings, I hope you had a great trip to the past! I must dash for my class so, until next time, wear your pink, I know I will - my own special brand of pink. It's not just pink for me. Itās a little something more, it says āconfidenceā, "freedom", and most importantly "magic." And who doesn't love a little magic?!
Love you all Emma xxx
www.pink-tutu.com
