#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 1934-02-06

Bonjour mes amies,

It's Tutu Tuesday, and my darling, what a Tuesday it is! This week, my pink-hued time machine whisked me back to a rather glamorous time: 1934! Oh, how the fashions flowed then! Imagine all the silks and satins, the feather boas and hats, oh, my heart is swooning just thinking about it.

This week, however, I wanted to focus on the ballet – you know, our favourite pastime! And oh, the things I have learnt.

This period, darling, was truly a golden age for ballet. Back in 1934, the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo were performing worldwide, their movements captivating the world. Choreographers like George Balanchine were reinventing ballet, injecting new energy and excitement into the classic forms. They were redefining what it meant to move, to be graceful, to be absolutely spellbinding!

While we think of ballet as primarily a staged performance, ballet was exploding onto the screen in 1934, too! The film "The Black Swan", a story based on the famous ballet, had audiences captivated. These exciting, innovative approaches, however, meant that ballet costumes had to adapt to their changing roles.

Of course, ballet wouldn't be ballet without the tutu, darling, and this decade saw a bit of a shift in its shape and design. Remember that we have those dreamy classical ballerinas like Anna Pavlova and the incredible Olga Spessivtzeva, a favourite of the Ballet Russe. Those wonderful ballerinas brought the classical ballet tutu into full, romantic flight with the "pancake tutu" - those wide, beautiful layers of tulle that evoked such magical, floating dreams on stage.

Imagine being in that vast theatre, the hush of anticipation as the lights dimmed and then, POOF A figure appears, enveloped in clouds of tulle, a dazzling spectacle against the stage. Pure magic!

In 1934, though, new choreographers and a focus on athleticism introduced more variations. This decade saw the rise of what we know today as the "romantic" tutu, that gorgeous wispy tutu with a smaller, but no less stunning, circumference, a smaller diameter that enabled more fluid, athletic movement.

It wasn't just the appearance that was evolving. You see, darling, fabrics and materials were also getting a makeover. Instead of using several layers of soft gauze, which, whilst stunning, would weigh the dancer down, a new and improved, sturdier fabric called tulle, much lighter than traditional gauze was created. Imagine, darling! Dancing without all that weight holding you back!

We're back to my absolute favourite topic, darlings, fashion. 1934! Those stylish ladies took cues from the graceful silhouettes of the ballet dancers, and so many women embraced that feminine, flowing, romantic style. There was even talk of "dancing" clothing to embody these movements – I adore this notion! It was as though those graceful movements had left the stage and infiltrated our everyday wardrobes, which to me, is absolutely brilliant.

Oh, to live in such a glamorous era.

You've seen my ballet tutu journey back through the years in many blog posts and it's an absolute delight to witness these changes in style and technique, in those wonderful, timeless performances, in the elegance, and how our lovely tutus adapted to new expressions of dance.

Let's keep those twirling skirts flowing, my dears! And don't forget: "Everything's better with a tutu".

Until next week, when I’ll explore more of ballet history for our lovely #TutuTuesday,

With twirling love, Emma

www.pink-tutu.com