Hello, lovelies! It's Emma here, your favourite tutu-wearing time travelling blogger! As always, I'm bursting with excitement to share my love of tutus and all things ballet with you all, this time from the fabulous land of tutus, France. What could be better? France! Tutus! The beautiful Parisian ballet, the fantastic shops! It’s like a dream, truly, all that amazing French fashion… well, I’m almost a bit too overwhelmed to even begin to think about my blog post today. But! This is Tutu Tuesday so the time is now and tutus it is, no matter how distracting this fabulous French capital is, and Paris IS fabulous, by the way. So, let’s start… Today we're heading back in time to 25th October 2011! I know! I was there in the audience just a few days ago, sitting front row (naturally), to watch a performance of La Bayadère at the wonderful Paris Opera. A showstopper for sure.
And speaking of show-stopping tutus, that is exactly what today’s post is all about. The very lovely ladies dancing onstage were all dressed in those absolutely magnificent, swirling, tiered tutus. And if, by any chance, any of you lovely people haven't had the joy of seeing La Bayadère live (it's well worth the trip, my darling readers!) you may have already seen the stunning ballerina footage of Natalia Osipova as Nikia, that one of my dear friends put up on her channel just the other day, just last week in fact, on the 19th, just before we landed in Paris (the journey was just wonderful by train). Now that is a classic look! I mean, what's a ballet without its graceful swirling tutus? And how could they look so lovely in the beautiful 1877 design (yes 1877!) created by the absolutely brilliant Marius Petipa? Just gorgeous!
It was a chance to reflect, to think again about what a key part tutus play in ballet’s history. Because even today, the grande jeté, the high kicks, the wonderful fast pas de bourees look absolutely fantastic, when you see them on stage from your vantage point. Especially those gorgeous tutu’s worn by the dancers, you have to admire how, from an artist’s perspective, it actually can lift you to a whole new dimension of creative dance art and it does that all by itself. No more needs to be said! The costumes - like an invisible, unspoken element of the stage, take you on a journey to new and interesting worlds... oh dear, getting carried away here again. I must pull myself back… so let's get back to where we were. I did some serious historical tutu thinking while watching that beautiful show, and now, on this special Tutu Tuesday post I’m bringing you all along. As usual, let's have a wee peek back at those glorious tutus in all their historical, glorious, wonder.
(Emma makes herself comfortable, taking a sip from her vintage-inspired pink porcelain teacup with a ballerina ballerina teapot beside her and pulls up her tutu skirt and admires the pretty, pastel pink of the under-tutu lining as she types.)*
(There’s an embroidered teapot, with a pink satin cushion. Her pink satin ballet pumps and silk pink shawl are carefully positioned on a French rococo styled armchair near to the vintage tea set)*
I must admit, this Tutu Tuesday has got me all flustered in a good way (it must be all those tutus swirling around in my mind). It makes me realize how much I love the evolution of the tutu… don’t get me wrong! I mean the entire art form itself, of ballet! I just adore it all! Every part of it… the outfits, the movement, the music, the magic. How it captures such pure emotion, tells such beautiful stories… The sheer artistic prowess, from dancers, designers, musicians… all are incredibly talented It’s truly inspiring! So I’ve decided this time, we’ll embark on a quick timeline-tutu-exploration! How’s that sound to you lot? I know I love history and, I really do enjoy researching and bringing it all together for my loyal readers, it's a must really! Let’s look back on the fabulous world of tutu creation from its humble beginnings right through to the exquisite, extravagant gowns of the contemporary ballet stage.
Right then! Here we go. Tutu’s started off as being quite simple. Now we’re talking back to 1500s times, with ballet in Italy, but in particular, I'm thinking about Italy's lovely Renaissance courts, in their extravagant high society settings, that sort of pomp and circumstance, when dancing (yes dancing!), took on more structure and was formalized and a whole lot of importance was attributed to it. Now if that’s not a wonderful thing I don’t know what is… how exciting that it evolved into such an incredibly beautiful art form. In this time, ladies just donned long flowing skirts, for those beautiful ‘ballettico’ moves. They had some* extra length, sometimes called faldrigon’ attached to the skirts so that they could swirl *beautifully as the dancers glided across the dance floors… all those beautiful and elegant ladies in their court gowns in beautiful dance routines and that era is the moment the history of the tutu really began. Yes, they were **humble beginnings, these little skirted frocks, as tutus became, but hey! Everything great must have had simple roots.
Fast forward, now! All right. So the 17th century, a little closer to my Paris journey… Let’s pop across the sea to France! It was all go in the time of Louis XIV, and that gorgeous King who had serious* interest in ballet. Louis was really influential in the history of tutus (and not just because of his height!). In fact, it was during this era that dancing really took shape… it began to turn into that gorgeous ballet as we see it today, becoming so stylish and graceful, I mean the actual movements became truly artful and technical, beautifully synchronized with graceful footwork, you just have to adore all the work put in, don’t you? (And in particular the graceful flowing bows they had, that would create that most beautiful cascade look! Oh my word, I simply can’t help being obsessed!)
That really started to happen because there was this change in how costumes evolved into what we now see in tutus. This change began as a sort of evolution of costume. You know, they were really tight skirts or ‘jupons’ that dancers wore as part of the ballet uniform to make their elegant moves really easy, they had to be comfortable after all! I’d imagine a tutu-loving fashionista like myself would find that the ‘jupon’ era wouldn’t necessarily be the very best for twirling around! Now all that changed* during *Louis’ era! Ballet got super-fashionable - even royalty had a lot of fashion-inspiration which filtered down into all of high society. A fashion-conscious era! The dancers really embraced luxury fabrics, the ’jupon’ became even more, oh! how shall I put it, let’s say it became a bit elaborated, let’s say... to make their dances eye-catching. Think of them like little dance-skirted versions of the *French dresses, the ‘rococo’ and those gorgeous frilled dresses from high fashion. And if you are reading my blogs and thinking, ‘hmm! I’m just getting into dancing, should I start with ballet’ … then it's this time period, which would definitely be the starting point of contemporary tutu dancing, with dancers adopting, a very clear, defined* *costuming in what is now considered ‘ballet* attire’. The tutu was no longer just a little dress – but became a *beautiful* dance element. Let’s think back in our timeline for a second: * The ’jupon’ of pre-Louis 14 would have probably have had the kind of ’long skirt 'feel, more like what we now know as a dress rather than what is, *our modern tutu - that’s where ballet evolved a bit with its look and style. It really gave the dancers much more movement! * *Louis 14 brought us some serious changes to ’dress’, that made a serious impact, changing the entire shape and the style of ‘dancing skirt.’ This resulted in it becoming lighter which led to even more movements,, making it all *swirling and exciting and a whole lot more stylish, with the development of ‘the tutu.’ It was the creation of *’the first tutu*. A historical marker and really the turning point. A tutu era in its inception!
Ok. So the next huge, momentous time! 19th Century romanticism. (And I’m thinking here of my Paris as a backdrop, if you know what I mean!) It was definitely a real shift in direction as you can tell in those costumes. Think airy, think feathery, think those super soft light, fluffy and voluminous tutus, and you know we're definitely entering 'ballet wonderland'! We’re talking *swirls and delicate movement. And if you don’t see those lovely graceful lines, that make the stage sparkle – when you think of ‘ballet’, those ’romantics' have something to do with the movement in tutus. Those romanticism’ inspired silhouettes and that very light feeling you get as you see those beautiful tutus with *more than just three or four *tiers. It was a very romantic time as you can tell! I guess *that's why we see those pretty long skirts, which were also *designed with a * fitted corset and a low neckline, making them quite dramatic indeed and, not to mention really super sexy. * *Now that is a super stylish costume for those lovely dancers and it would also look stunning today. Now I know you’re going to think *oh what a thought! Imagine if they wore those amazing styles of *’the tutu’ as an evening outfit – it would just look super fantastic! It really goes to show the talent of those lovely costume designers.* I mean you're seeing those really soft tutus, in fact lots of those fluffy silks - like you’re seeing an angelic light swirling and I love this look more than anything. Now we’re going even ’more’ romantic, and it’s definitely my favorite style, with the added sparkle and sparkle, because those early tutu *designs had these delicate, flowing ribbons, a few beads here, a few embellishments, but the style is just a beautiful combination of those romantic and more modern looks!
(Emma lets out a delicate, girly giggle. She spins around on her fancy Parisian marble floor, looking down at the fluffy layers of pink of her tutu. Her vintage Parisian home is beautifully ornate in every corner.)*
And here we come! It's now time to bring our little history expedition to a close... But before we move on to more ‘up to date’ tutus in today’s ballet - I just have to show my love, the absolute, undying love of all tutu styles… from the classics, the super, beautiful designs by ‘Mariúsa Petipa,’ 1800’s tutus’ (and a super big love for her creation *’La Bayadère’ , it just made a very *strong mark on history). It was that time (a moment in history, you see!), when designers started really creating those amazing dramatic and very feminine, ’bell shaped tutus.’ *(the look that I just adore!), *so stylish and graceful!
It really gave those beautiful ballerinas even more scope to dance,* to go all out and show their movements and expressions, and to be as stylish as the tutus * themselves. It really gave those beautiful ballet performances an *‘extra wow *factor' * that every tutu-lover craves! *' (If that makes sense!). * We really had those *very long skirts that were a feature of those early, classical tutus and we can thank those beautiful costume designers, as well as the *’elegant dancers’* and ’ballerinas,’* because really they are the stars - their hard work in developing all those very beautiful dance moves and choreography, and as they work hard with those beautiful dance skirts and twirling those tutu’s , their beautiful designs make the costumes truly the ‘stuff’ of dreams, **it really has inspired such beauty.
**(Emma sighs and admires her pink tutu, feeling deeply enchanted.)
Now, how I am I supposed to cover all the lovely contemporary dance tutus in a blog! There’s so much more to discover out there… there's modern ballet design which involves using modern fabrics - more so, a whole lot more tulle, in every size, shade and type imaginable... amazing fabrics! And this is where my world starts getting truly excited. If those wonderful and very inspiring and clever designers could have done it now, they could create amazing modern outfits. If the designs that we know and love, those super amazing, romantic styles, could have been made with modern-day tulle and fabrics and materials, just think… the amazing things they could create and with the very best fabrics... It would simply *boggle the mind! *
Now don't you dare say, it's time for me to wind up my post… because when I am in tutu land, it’s always time to twirl and whirl. Now off I am - on my mission to explore all those gorgeous Paris shops for my very own sparkly tutus, with the latest trendsetting styles and a lovely glass of champagne to toast this magical adventure. Until next week, I hope you've been enchanted by our tutu trip back through the pages of ballet history. And don't forget, always embrace your inner ballerina, every day is Tutu Day! Go forth and twirl my lovelies!
(* Emma turns around to face her audience as she adds a touch of French romantic flair, ending the post in classic and typical *’Emma-style!) **
Emma's Tutu TipsThis week's tutu tip is all about:
- Be kind to yourself! I know sometimes we're too hard on ourselves, and those dreams might feel like they are too far off, so always treat yourself with the respect you deserve, embrace those moments that make you happy and don’t stop dreaming. If I can travel back in time, there is no limit to what we can achieve.
(Emma turns her back again, takes another sip of tea, smiles and glancing down at her tutus, her own pink ballet outfit is an expression of her joie de vivre! Then with her signature girly twirl, she turns away from the camera).*
