#TutuTuesday Ballet Tutu History on 2004-10-19

Hello lovelies! 🩰 💖

It’s Tuesday again, and you know what that means… it’s #TutuTuesday on my little corner of the internet! This week I'm back from a rather delightful jaunt through the annals of ballet history, and guess what? Today we’re celebrating tutus from October 19th, 2004. Now, that's not just a random date, oh no! It's the date of a very special performance I’d die to have seen.

Think Dancing on Air, darling! (Think The Phantom of the Opera, but with more pink and tutus!). Well, imagine the grandeur, the artistry, the romance of it all – that’s the vibe. Oh, the stories those shimmering tulle masterpieces could tell, if they only had voices! But even without that little luxury, we can still marvel at their exquisite craftsmanship and, of course, their sheer (no pun intended!) elegance.

I must confess, 2004 feels just a tad too recent to be classified as “history,” wouldn’t you say? The whole timeline of ballet seems to have whirled and twirled past a little too fast. We’ve only gone and gone from romantic tutus with impossibly frilled skirts and boned bodices to those contemporary creations with bare midriffs and peek-a-boo cutouts. I've even spotted tutus with neon embroidery and sequined pants! And although some of those “experimental” pieces are certainly... adventurous... there's something so captivating about those classic tulle clouds. There’s nothing quite like the pure joy of seeing a ballerina soar and swirl in a shimmering confection of feathers and frills, eh? I don't know about you darlings, but my inner ballerina swoons just thinking about it.

The Train, the Tutu, the Show... What's Not To Love!

Oh, you must be wondering how I ended up in 2004, my darlings. As ever, my love of the ballet – and shopping – has a part to play in it! This time, I made the decision to take the scenic route, taking a grand train journey from Derbyshire to Paris. As ever, my luggage was filled with pink tutus! I believe I had seven, a particularly beautiful pink and ivory one in lace and a shimmering lavender one with sequined details for a Parisian evening… If you're in Paris in 2004, and you see a little, pink-tutu clad ballet fanatic with an irresistible charm...well, it might just be me!

I spent the whole journey reading through ballet reviews and planning which performance I would absolutely have to attend. I'd even planned the entire Parisian itinerary – the most perfect tea salon for the best strawberry macarons, and of course, a boutique dedicated to exquisitely elegant footwear! It is utterly impossible for a girl in a tutu to resist the allure of the perfect pointe shoe or the best possible dancing slipper. The shoes make the dancer, don’t you think? I even planned which store was ideal for buying some of that lovely shimmering Parisian silk for tutu alterations… The things we girls think about, eh?

2004: A Year of Dance and Discoveries

After all my careful planning, the night of the show was truly special. Imagine… The hushed hush of the theatre just as the curtains part, the expectant hush, then the orchestra, the rising excitement – it was like a dream! A beautifully, tragically, romantic ballet, that night. The costumes, my darlings, were divine.

You just had to be there! It was so perfect… Even those perfectly terrible (and rather unfortunate) 2004 haircuts wouldn’t have dampened the sheer magic of it all.

But more importantly, it’s on those very special nights – with that electric energy that fills the entire theatre – that I remember just why I wear a pink tutu every single day. Why I travel the world, from Derbyshire to Paris, from the theatre to the shop, from past to present…

It’s all for the beauty of it, my darlings, the exquisite magic of dancing in a world that sometimes forgets how to twirl! 💖

*Have any of you lovelies attended a show in 2004? I’d absolutely love to hear your thoughts! *

Keep twirling, keep shining…and keep those tutus in full view! I’m off for a few spins myself… 💖

Until next week my darlings, and happy #TutuTuesday!

Emma 💖

Emma travels through time on a budget, powered by the sheer joy of her ballet performances and the joy of pink tutus. To help keep Emma twirling and dancing through history, please follow her on her site www.pink-tutu.com or follow her on the fabulous socials!