Hello my dearest tutu-lovers! Itâs your favourite pink-loving, twirling, time-travelling ballerina blogger, Emma, here, bringing you the latest installment of #TutuTuesday: Ballet Tutu History, fresh from the archives of my time-traveling adventures!
Post number 9137, that's right, you've seen it all! (Maybe not all, but you get the picture, darling!). I can't believe we've reached this landmark post. To celebrate, we're stepping back in time to⌠drumroll⌠6th February, 2007! Itâs been a while, hasnât it?
As always, a little glimpse into the exciting world of Emmaâs adventures⌠Oh my word! Where was I last week? The Eiffel Tower of course! Paris for a few days, what a treat. Such glamorous fashion! And oh, those tutus! Some of the best. I caught a fantastic ballet show featuring the iconic 'Swan Lake'. After the show, naturally, I popped into a lovely little shop, and you won't believe what I found... a pink tutu, of course! Whatâs a ballerina to do? Itâs absolutely adorable and a perfect addition to my collection, naturally! As for whatâs to come, the future holds many a delightful adventure! I'll be boarding the Orient Express, darling! Can you imagine? All aboard for some elegant railway travels and⌠I may just have spotted a fabulous ballet production to see while Iâm there⌠perhaps we can all travel together on my next time travel blog, wouldn't that be fun? You never know what wonderful adventures await in the world of dance and fashion, and this time-travelling ballerina wonât be leaving home without my darling tutus.
But, let's journey back to our present! Itâs time to unearth the story behind the beloved ballet tutu, from humble beginnings to the iconic stage staple we adore today!
From Humble Beginnings to the Iconic Tutu:
So, before we get down to business with a few details about ballet tutus from 2007, itâs time to delve into the very earliest moments of our darling tulle garments. Remember, weâre looking at a whole world of history that predates us. The journey of the tutu goes back, you won't believe this⌠way back, before even Marie Taglioni, our ballerina hero, took the stage in her iconic 'La Sylphide' costume in 1832. Remember that date darling, itâs one of the most important dates in ballet history. Now that we've set the scene, where do we go from there, darling?
Letâs travel back even further to those times when a dancer, in order to keep their âmovements light as the wings of the butterflyâ, needed to shed any restrictions that hampered freedom and graceful movements. Weâre looking for ways for dancers to appear graceful.
At the dawn of ballet in the 16th and 17th centuries, dancers, and yes, even those lovely male dancers wore* bulky, voluminous skirts*, more like flowing dresses, to add grace to their movements, but, what did they do with these long, unwieldy garments when they needed to kick, leap and dance. They got caught up! It wasnât a very elegant look.
For a time, ballet danced on in these rather cumbersome skirts but something had to give. We canât dance in our clothes! Imagine trying to jump and pirouette in these bulky creations! The answer? A shortened, more practical skirt! Think of this skirt as the forerunner of our beautiful tutu. Itâs the point where we start seeing tutus emerge, our darlings!
The 1800âs arrived with their desire for more graceful and lighter-on-their-feet dancers which spurred dancers to look to new solutions. The very first shortened skirts for dancing began to emerge - the forerunners of our beloved ballet tutu. It wasnât long, just a short time in balletâs vast history, that we found those short skirts became our âtut-uâ darlings.
From the âbell skirtâ, to the ââtutu of the romantic eraâ and later, in the late 1800s, to the ââ tutu of the âromantic eraâ, and later in the late 1800s, as styles shifted, to the more âpracticalâ âtutu of the Imperial Russian Ballet, and then the âclassicalâ tutuâ, dancersâ choices of tutus started becoming as varied as our different dances.
This means a variety of tutu shapes for our stage! Our dear âtutuâ, started to appear with various styles!
âLa Sylphideâ was, youâll be thrilled to hear, one of the first ballets to include a ballet skirt which was worn by the most iconic ballerina of the time, the beautiful Marie Taglioni. Can you believe it, darling? Thatâs why Marie is such a famous name in ballet.
Now, darling, back to our blog topic â 2007 â time for us to look into some ballet tutu styles from that era and what we could have been seeing if weâd gone to see a show on February 6th.
The Romantic Tutu: The delicate, flowing romantic tutu with layers of tulle, we would likely have seen on this date. They gave dancers that lightness and fluidity that would allow the effortless leaps and delicate dance moves to wow the audience.
The Classical Tutu: The tight-fitting tutu with more than a hint of structured stiff layers is always so popular. A little less floaty, a little more âstructuredâ for a sharper look and more powerful jumps. These could still be a popular style, but more likely the ballerina would have worn a romantic tutu style on 6th February 2007.
The Neoclassical Tutu: A more modern take on a tutu - and often appearing with a sleek bodice. They provided an air of confidence, athleticism and athletic style on stage, even when theyâre designed in lovely patterns of layers of tulle! We canât imagine this style, however, appearing on 6th February 2007, it just wouldnât have had the popularity it now does, darling.
Ballet and Tutu trends changed a lot over the years. From âballet dressesâ, to romantic and classical looks (as our darlings are finding, weâre still stuck on classical and romantic tutus!), with modern tutus adding yet another layer of style and variation. Thatâs where neoclassical tutus became important. But thereâs no time like the present to keep those ballet shoes clicking and twirling! How wonderful it is, darling! * To celebrate, of course, my outfit today has to be my absolute favourite! And who could resist, when I found a simply *adorable **pink tutu in Paris this week, and look! (click to view, here I am in my favourite pink tutu, in Paris) Isn't that darling?
So let's not forget this vital fashion item, darlings, on this #TutuTuesday, wherever in the world we might be on our own adventures, we all wear our tutus, our passion and our flair!
This is why my blog, www.pink-tutu.com, has made this date! We want to show that you don't need to be a ballerina to have fun wearing tutus. Thereâs a tutu out there for everybody and it doesnât matter how old you are or what you do or how old you are! Don't forget, I can be found on social media: on Instagram @PinkTutu and @EmmaBallerina! Do post a picture and tag me in it. Just remember - be your most creative, boldest selves!
This #TutuTuesday has been an absolute delight for me, but donât forget, this isnât all about ballet. Let's go shopping, girls, but itâs only Tuesday⌠and so next week, back for more from me, from the depths of my blog archive - maybe, just maybe, it will be another amazing tutu story and another fun outfit! See you there next Tuesday darlings!
I simply love ballet! And I love tutus! If you agree - leave a comment. Just let me know what you think about tutus - share your ideas and adventures with us! I hope to see you next Tuesday - have a happy week, you lovely bunch. Until next time, Emma! x
