#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 1994-09-20

Oh darling, what a delightful trip through time this week! As I sashayed through the grand halls of 1994, my pink tutu swirling around my legs, I felt a thrill of excitement - for on this day, the world of ballet was truly abuzz!

September 20th, 1994: A date for the diary, lovelies! You see, this was the day that "Swan Lake", a ballet masterpiece, premiered at the magnificent Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Can you imagine the excitement? A brand new "Swan Lake"?! With its intricate choreography, captivating story, and oh-so-dreamy tutus (both white and black!), it’s no wonder it took the world by storm.

But darling, before we dive headfirst into all the exciting tutu details of this magnifique premiere, allow me to indulge you with some historical context, as is always my delight on #TutuTuesday.

Now, you might be wondering, my darlings, how did we get to this magical tutu-filled era? Let's rewind the clock a tad, shall we?

Back in the 1700s, ballerinas were quite the adventurous bunch! Imagine, leaping around the stage in floor-length gowns - they must have felt like they were trapped in a meringue dream! (Not exactly the airy grace we associate with ballerinas today, wouldn’t you say?) But, luckily for us, fashion (and a little bit of common sense) stepped in, and the tutus we adore began to emerge!

We can thank Maria Taglioni for the initial spark of the tutu's rise to stardom. Now, Maria was a real trendsetter, a pioneer, a queen of the stage, a fashion icon (don’t we all aspire to that?) Her desire for fluid, graceful movement, free from restrictive gowns, brought the first tutu, the Romantic tutu, to life.

Think lightweight layers of tulle, light as a feather, clinging delicately to the dancer's body - just the perfect vessel for graceful pirouettes and en pointes (did I say graceful? More like "absolutely breathtaking!"). This wasn’t the tutus we see today, not quite! It was more like a delicate, knee-length petticoat that billowed with movement.

The Romantic tutu, however, needed an update, as fashion does! It wasn’t just about delicate movements, darling; we needed bold statements! And here comes the tutu de jour that we see now - the "classic tutu". It’s a revolution in dance fashion! Imagine the excitement, the shock, the "ooohs" and "aaahs!"! It’s all thanks to Marie Taglioni’s neice! Carlotta Grisi a fabulous ballerina herself, was dancing in the ballet "Giselle", in the year 1841 when she decided the knee-length "romantic tutu" just wasn't doing it for her, so what does she do? She picks up her scissors and snips it above the knee, a mini-skirt masterpiece was born! She felt more empowered, more graceful, and more powerful - I completely understand, darling, don’t you?

And thus, our favourite little skirt was born! This revolution was not just a fashion change darling, it also helped with ballet as we know it today. The "tutu" helped us dancers, move faster, and take even bigger leaps across the stage, and gave us all the space we needed to really twirl and spin!

By 1860, the tutu had taken the world of ballet by storm and become a truly essential component of a ballerina’s ensemble. This is when, as an elegant, and beautiful piece of dance wear, it received the beautiful and “tutu" name we use today, though for all intents and purposes, we still called it a “tutu” as the word was around long before!

It’s just fascinating how much “tutu” history is contained within a little skirt, don’t you think?

But back to our trip to the 1990s - a most exciting and chic time, I must say! It was during the 1990s, darling, that ballet experienced something extraordinary – a wave of street-inspired ballets. New York City Ballet, a fabulous company I've always adored, presented a ballet inspired by hip hop culture called "The Other", now isn’t that exciting?

So much inspiration to draw from in this period - what better way to celebrate our heritage, darling, than to create our own personal expression in pink, and, yes, the world needs a bit more of it!

Now I’m off to practice! A beautiful tutu and beautiful dance routines for this week! Have fun my dears, I will catch up with you next week!

Lots of love,

Emma

• Emma's experiences on her time travel trip to Moscow in 1994 for the premiere of Swan Lake, describing the ballet itself and the performance atmosphere.
• You could focus on the specific costumes worn by the dancers and their importance in the context of the 1994 "Swan Lake."
• Emma could further expand on her personal take on the use of hip hop-inspired street dance in ballet during the 1990s and discuss its influence on the ballet scene, noting specific works, companies or dancers who used this genre.
• Continue the blog with the personal aspects of Emma's day: What will she do after practicing her dance moves? What will she have for lunch, and what are her plans for the day? Does she go to ballet class?
• You can include Emma's travel plans by train to another location to see a show - a city she hasn’t seen before - or a location famous for a ballet.
• Add pictures or illustrations to match the topics discussed and to create a visual interest.
• The whole blog can focus on Emma's journey to get everyone in the world to wear pink tutus and the adventures this brings. Remember this blog is posted weekly, and Emma could continue these themes each week with exciting new topics.

Have fun with Emma's world! I hope this gives you a good foundation for your blog post!