Hello, darlings! Welcome back to Pink-Tutu.com! I'm Emma, your friendly neighbourhood pink tutu aficionado, and today we're continuing our grand tour through the magnificent history of the tutu! This week, we're focusing on the twentieth century - a time of radical change in the world of dance, and you can be sure those changes reflected in the costumes, especially our beloved tutus!
Now, my dear readers, I confess: there's no better way to travel than by train. The rhythmic clickety-clack of the wheels against the tracks is almost as mesmerizing as a perfect pirouette, don't you think? This week, I found myself whisked away by rail from my charming Derbyshire village to the heart of London, where I'm enjoying a brief whirlwind of a visit. You know me - always eager to be surrounded by beautiful shops and theatres!
Today, however, weāre focusing on something else that excites my heart, something that dances just as vibrantly in the theatre and on the street - history, and the glorious, swishy history of the tutu.
Before we launch into this spectacular century of tutus, though, letās think for a moment about that amazing history of tutus we've explored in previous weeks. Remember, darlings, the tutu began not in the grand ballrooms of royalty, but in the humble homes of 19th-century ballerinas who quite literally sewed up the style, quite literally sewing together lengths of fabric and ribbon and dancing on, well, pretty much nothing! From that, we progressed through the beautiful Victorian Romantic era to the emergence of the romantic classical tutu, the sort we often see at performances and in those lovely, swishy ballerina paintings.
Now, with the twentieth century, a time of even faster progress and artistic upheaval in dance and in fashion, things change rather dramatically! Itās like those incredible leaps and turns that ballet dancers make; our beloved tutu takes a dizzying dive into a century of extraordinary, inventive designs and the freedom to express individuality. Itās this diversity and playful experimentation that has brought the tutu to such brilliant, diverse and dramatic use, a testament to the ingenuity of designers and, of course, to those elegant ballerinas, gracefully making their own style statements on the stage!
Now, my sweet loves, grab a cup of tea (with a spot of milk and sugar, naturally, whatās tea without it?) and settle in for a little time-travelling tour!
From Ballerina to Broadway: The Changing Landscape
You see, the beginning of the twentieth century was not only about amazing, exciting dances. It was the dawning of a new era of social change. From the social upheavals that followed World War I, to the dazzling exuberance of the Roaring Twenties, all those bold fashions seeped their way onto the stage, and yes, even into the way we created tutus! We were moving from the very elaborate, full romantic tutu - all flounces and layers, so very ālook at meā - to styles more suited for modern dance movements and athleticism.
And as new dance styles like modern dance, jazz dance and ballet variations like neo-classical, became increasingly popular and important, the traditional romantic tutus evolved to new heights of style.
And if we think about it, that evolution is completely natural - even when dancers werenāt being radical, audiences were beginning to expect some sort of āradicalityā with tutus and their styles. After all, everyone had been enthralled with the graceful beauty of romantic classical tutus. However, now the emphasis was on an almost āathletic elegance.ā They became shorter, some were longer with more free-flowing lines. Itās an incredibly fun mix of elegance and athleticism - and one I'm always inspired by, especially on days when Iām ready to work on that perfect plieĢ or arabesque!
The designers themselves, both male and female, took center stage. After all, the tutu had been born in the studio but it became a real fashion star on stage! We had the genius of Karl von Appen, who worked in Munich and created some of the first āreal tutus.ā And we canāt forget the legacy of Mary Ann Humphreys, an English ballerina and dance teacher who established dance in Australia! In America, designer Karinska designed for some of the biggest, and best, ballet companies, including the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet. And then there was legendary, influential designer, Mr. George Halkett! George began creating tutu styles, that became, and remain, the mainstay of ballet training and, frankly, heās pretty much become an essential tutu authority! (George has had such a profound impact that I might devote a whole post to his life and work! What do you think, darlings?)
The influence of the big American musical shows also can't be underestimated! This led to ātutus for everyone" on stage in exciting shows with incredible and bold fashion ideas, from the spectacular The Ziegfeld Follies, to those spectacular costumes of The Follies BergeĢre.
And those glorious and amazing Broadway dance productions in the twenties and thirties had another effect. They also set off the glorious ātutu explosionā into film. Shall We Dance, The Gold Diggers of Broadway, and even Gone With the Wind (oh! Iām so enthralled by Scarlet O'Haraās wardrobe - particularly her dancing gown at that big ball scene - isn't that just wonderful for a romantic tutu lover! )! You see, with the arrival of those first, incredible colour films, we get a full and flamboyant vision of how fashion, dancing and beauty combined into glorious outfits on screen - an incredibly fabulous fusion that is as wonderful now as it was a century ago!
Twentieth Century Style Trends:
But there is so much more to the tutu in the twentieth century, my lovelies. And we can't talk about the big changes to the tutu without looking at how the world was changing, too! Just like the incredible shifts in fashion (and ballet's fashion certainly followed fashion trends!) from the wide bouffant styles of the 1950s, to those short, spiky haircuts in the 1960s - think "The Austin Powers Movies,ā everyone - thereās an amazing evolution of the tutu and ballet styles!
After those spectacular Ziegfeld Follies days (ooh! what an amazing influence!) in the twenties, we went from those wonderful, shimmering showgirl "leg of mutton" tutus and that glorious use of frills and sparkles. From there, we began moving to simpler, cleaner styles, more suitable to modern ballet choreography. A key inspiration here? Yes, you are right! The incredible Ballets Russes, a ballet company that performed around the world (I love the stories from those international tours and performances!), was truly revolutionary, even offering inspiration for our favourite little fashion piece. We owe them many of the ideas, like those very important simple tutu styles and all that creative exploration into innovative uses of material like fabrics. We owe those artists so much! (Oh, dear, my apologies if Iām rambling! Itās so much to take in!)
One great example of a designer, who gave us an extraordinary shift in the world of the tutu, is George Balanchine. (He really deserves a Tutu Tuesday post just for himself, doesnāt he?) A real visionary and incredible leader who became the founder of New York City Ballet and an important dancer himself, George saw that the ballet tutu really needed to reflect a change. He created shorter tutus with less fabric so the dancersā movements were free and flexible. Think about the sheer energy of a dancer executing those powerful leaps with all those flounces swirling around them, and those moves made for the romantic classical tutus, now it's the time of more flowing lines for the modern dances - the "elegant athleticism." And itās very striking, wouldnāt you say?
In addition, letās not forget the important shift from the Ballets Russes and its embrace of artistic freedom to other important innovations of ballet dance style! Modern Dance, created by the extraordinary Isadora Duncan (again, she has the makings of a future Tutu Tuesday post! It would be fabulous!) had such a big effect in giving freedom to expression and movement, and naturally this meant some serious adjustments to the tutu and clothing! In fact, the iconic "Duncan" look included bare feet and loose, flowing fabrics - so we really see how far tutus have come! Then we had the extraordinary Alvin Ailey, another visionary who, among so many other things, revolutionized how modern dance was viewed and presented, both in America and globally! ( I love, love, love how dancing can travel across cultures!) Itās a fantastic tribute to the beauty and creativity of "tutus of any kind!ā (Oh, what lovely music to my ears, eh?)
So, what's the "tutu" takeaway for this week? The tutus that are still our "standard" ballet today, you know the ones we love, those tutus we associate with beautiful, elegant ballet? Many of them were influenced by those changes that were happening during this important 20th century period in the world.
And my lovely readers, that is exactly what we're aiming for in the future: those inspiring changes and creative diversity to embrace the beautiful styles of tutus and the beautiful world of ballet.
Well, my darlings, I have much to tell you! Let me leave you with an idea. Go shopping and get yourselves a little something from the āpink department!ā And try dancing! Try a simple ballet pirouette, and see how amazing and graceful you feel. Don't worry if you're not the next Anna Pavlova, just have a blast, my dears! You never know how magical and beautiful ballet, and even a ālittle bit of pink,ā might transform your day!
See you next Tuesday, loves!
Emma
xxoo
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