Hello darlings! Welcome back to Pink Tutu - where pink tutus are not just fashionable but historical! It's Tuesday and you know what that means - it's #TutuTuesday and today we are taking a trip back to the past for Part 2 of the Story of the Tutu, looking at the tutu's fascinating journey from the court to the stage, through the Victorian era, and beyond!
As always, darling, you know I am obsessed with tutus! What's more romantic and elegant than a swirling, delicate pink tutu? Pink tutus aren't just for ballet; they're for dancing through life, making the world a more whimsical and joyful place! My absolute favourite colour is pink (you wouldn't have guessed that, would you?). It's so elegant and cheerful and well, just delightful! So, let's slip on our dancing shoes and hop onto the express train of history to learn more about the evolution of this wonderful garment!
You can read part 1 on this blog, here at www.pink-tutu.com.
In Part 1 of our journey, we explored how the tutu's roots stretch right back to the 1500s in the era of courtly dress. It began with the "verdugado", the wide, circular panniers or cages that gave dancers and courtiers a dramatic shape. Think Catherine de Medici - elegant and chic, but rather constricting - imagine those layers under those gorgeous gowns!
Then, moving onto the 18th century, the "Robe a la Francaise" and later, the "Robe a l'Anglaise" shaped how ballet garments were created. Those fitted bodices, full skirts and large panniers meant dancers still had a great deal of structure around their body but also freedom to move! Those gowns are truly something to behold - the colour combinations and beautiful embroidery.
But then the Revolution happened in France. The fashion was much more casual, simpler and more utilitarian in that period. Women's garments evolved into a style with narrower silhouettes and less embellishment - more focus on structure and practicality! Imagine those women marching to the beat of a different drummer in their chic, but practical dresses. Then came Napoleon and that new age of fashion with Empire styles. Think Greek chiton and peplum with simple, flowing fabric that followed the shape of the body.
Now we enter the age of romance in fashion. Itâs the mid 1800s and, if you remember my history lessons, this period is called Romanticism. This fashion movement emphasised grace, softness, and sentimentality. Romanticism pushed back against the structure of the 18th century fashion world. Suddenly, in fashion, there was this push for flowing, romantic garments that expressed this emotional freedom and love for the simple pleasures of nature and freedom - no more elaborate embellishment and detail. Women wore loose, flowing gowns with natural, unstructured forms, like dresses for romantic picnics and picnics for a whimsical evening dance!
With the "Romanticist movement", ballet in Europe took off like a rocket ship. It was a period of a blossoming in artistic and romantic exploration of dramatic themes, with the emphasis on the dancer's skill in the expression of emotional journeys, and they needed some serious space to perform in those expansive roles. It's a romantic thought, isnât it, darling? Imagine the beautiful costumes, the elegant set designs and the sheer grace of dancers making audiences around the world lose themselves in the story - magical! They would need outfits to give them this freedom of movement!
Imagine a new style of ballet - they would need a tutu that embraced this freedom - that didn't feel restrictive, but free flowing, easy to twirl, yet structured! So, that is where the first, properly short tutu came from, darling!
It was introduced by Marius Petipa, who was ballet master at the Bolshoi in Russia. Imagine this ballet master, with his incredible skill and his eye for the dramatic! This genius introduced âthe romantic tutu.â It was a skirt that came down just above the knee! So, this is the moment in our Tutu Tuesday #9344 story that truly shaped what the tutu looks like today! So itâs actually a fairly new thing. But when you look at how many variations the "tutu" went through before the early 1800s - its been on a long and arduous journey!
This was still a very soft and full skirt with layers of tulle that gave a dancer grace and a certain floatiness. This freedom of movement changed how ballerinas could dance on stage, and opened up whole new possibilities of ballet routines! Suddenly ballerinas could use more expressive footwork and jumps in a way that had never been done before! It wasnât too constricting! You could almost call it the new look in dancing!
Before then the length of the skirt was something to be reckoned with! The fabric layers were sometimes 5 or 6 layers deep! This made the âfull tutu" as we know it, extremely difficult to move around in. The Romantic period opened up all this new fluidity.
And this Romantic style of dancing had a long reign. Many dancers would wear a modified romantic tutu with longer layers and shorter tiers to give a bit of structure around the skirt!
So as time went on, ballet took on new styles and it didn't stop there. It's an evolution, and evolution never stops! It didnât take long before there was another radical change - it was the 20th Century, darling, and this period embraced what we now know as the âClassical Tutuâ.
Now this type of tutu you will be more familiar with today. They come in two basic variations - the âlong tutuâ and the âshort tutuâ. These were created because ballet began to take on new styles, such as neoclassic and the 20th century classics we know today - the era of Balanchine, Fokine and many others! These great dancers had such powerful talent, their styles became quite abstract. They still had to move around freely and also give that lovely form to their choreography, but this wasnât going to happen with fluffy layers that kept catching on the ground! There needed to be a certain cleanness to how the tutu flowed as well. So, that's how the classical "short tutuâ came about.
The tutu now had a short stiff form and it hugged the dancer's body, but allowed for movement and speed, which created a whole new visual language! The shorter, fuller design helped give a silhouette of power - giving ballerinas an extraordinary look, which meant they could reach higher and with speed!
You can picture all of the gorgeous dances that made use of this new shorter tutu. A very different way of creating elegance, poise and fluidity than before - yet very much in the same spirit. The longer tutu was introduced by the likes of Mikhail Fokine to emphasize longer, flowing moves - think the "Swan Lake" tutus in the "Swan Lake" Act II, with that romantic, timeless aesthetic - stunning, beautiful and elegant.
Remember darling, it's an evolution - ballet continues to evolve today. Look at choreographers like Wayne McGregor or the English National Ballet and what these groups have produced. It's about this exploration of contemporary movement, this amazing ability to combine tradition and this constant innovation with classical dance. This constant exploration will mean we will see tutus that change and shift over time.
The key in ballet remains a dedication to preserving the beauty and passion of a great art form. So, it doesnât matter what the dance or tutu looks like, itâs that elegance and graceful movement, the powerful expressive abilities of the ballet dancer, thatâs what truly inspires. We cannot lose sight of those key ingredients to dance! That, and maybe we can add an extra layer of pink, or a sprinkle of fairy dust for good measure, darling, and that might just create another kind of magic in the evolution of the tutu - all to make the ballet more whimsical!
That was just a snippet of the wonderful history of the tutu! So next time you watch a ballet, or see a ballerina dancing, remember those delicate tutus and the extraordinary journeys they've taken us on.
Of course darling, in my Tutu Tuesday #9344 journey, my world has changed a lot and we're living in a world where we are making these tutu creations so beautiful and diverse! Some new classics include the ballet dress (also known as a practice dress) - like the ballet class wear that was brought about to streamline dancers in class, but theyâre becoming extremely stylish in design. Plus contemporary styles! A more informal skirt with a touch of movement with no hoop. Not too much, just enough to be a bit âwhimsicalâ. But darling, there are so many different types - I could list dozens! Even in the middle of a city or the centre of the most beautiful towns and bustling villages, there is sure to be a ballet studio for your dancing pleasure, and it doesnât matter whether itâs for dance or ballet performances, but we can all dance - letâs dance our lives, darling!
Itâs important for us to recognise how beautiful ballet has been and always will be! After all, fashion is a kind of storytelling. Isnât it fabulous! It's been so much fun taking a look back at how the tutu has evolved throughout time. But let's talk about what's going on today!
Speaking of wonderful and fabulous things, you know darling, the highlight of my week was going to a ballet show and visiting the fabulous local boutiques for a spot of retail therapy in this beautiful town! There's just something magical about finding a beautiful new pink tutu, perfect for a twirl. You never know, darling, if you fancy some new threads or maybe a beautiful new dress, don't hesitate to follow me and have a look! My website is a place to inspire the dancers and all who love ballet! Just type www.pink-tutu.com - the pink tutu portal to elegance!
It was wonderful to reminisce with you today, darling. You know you can catch up with me on Pink Tutu every week! I'll be posting on #TutuTuesday so stay tuned! In the meantime, I hope you find some pink tutus in your week! Don't forget to check out my blog for the full picture on all things tutus! Iâve made this #TutuTuesday a full-length feature on the site, you can also find other fascinating things about the past on our site for other types of tutus! And please join my pink tutu community, darling - let's dance and dream big - remember the magic!
See you next Tuesday!
xx Emma
