With World Ballet Day 2021 finally approaching on October 19th (after a very subdued year last year, understandably) and companies finally returning to the stage, I wanted to put the spotlight on the fashion of ballet! (Spotlight… ba dum tsh… I know.) While trends in ballet (and ballet costuming) have influenced fashion for well over a century, we are looking at the prima ballerina of ballet fashion: the tutu. For this Style File Friday, we will diving into the history of tutus and what is behind it when you see it on stage!
The Symbol of the Ballet Dancer
Along with pointe shoes, I don’t know that there is a symbol that better represents the ballet dancer than the tutu. While it periodically makes the rounds of mainstream fashion trends, it has remained a constant of classical ballet for over 170 years. (And quite often if dancers are not wearing a tutu for a performance, there will be several audience members afterwards asking where the tutus are.) The history of tutus is quite a journey, with some perilous moments…
Marie Taglioni- The Originator
Marie Taglioni is one of those figures in ballet that we can trace many developments and changes back to. She was one of the first dancers to dance an entire ballet en pointe, the role of the sylph was created on her for La Sylphide, and she was the first dancer to wear a tutu in that same ballet. La Sylphide premiered in 1832, and Taglioni wore a bell-shaped muslin skirt and hoop with a white corset. While it was considered somewhat scandalous at the time for exposing her ankles and calves, it became the favoured ballet costume immediately. The skirt was light but held its shape, and helped create the illusion of a floating dancer.
Beautiful But Flammable…
While muslin and tulle tutus are incredibly beautiful, they are also incredibly flammable. In the first half of the nineteenth century, theatres were largely lit by candle light, and the second half transitioned to gas lighting. Gas lighting does have the benefit of creating and throwing far more light than candles/torches, but both light sources are very flammable. Unfortunately, several dancers, including one of Taglioni’s successor’s, got too close to the gas lighting in the wings off-stage and burned to death. (You can see scraps of Emma Livry’s costume at the Bibliothèque-Musée de l’Opéra National de Paris.) Ballet does have a reputation for being quite a grueling art form, but this is certainly one of its more tragic historical moments.
Shorter Still
The tutu was again shortened in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. As pointe work continued to develop, hem lengths rose to just above the knee to better show off dancers’ feet and legs. (And yes, many people did point to the scandalous length, but what can you do…) In this period we do see more variation in the colour and embellishment of tutus- instead of your white or cream muslin tutu, you will find different colours, jewels, and embroidery on these.
The Powder Puff Tutu
Like many other aspects of ballet, George Balanchine left his mark on the tutu. By the late 1940s and 1950s, the tutu had become shorter still. Balanchine’s dancers often wore the “powder puff tutu”. According to Pointe Magazine, “[t]his new style was smaller, shorter and lighter and used only six to seven layers of net, with no hoop.” By removing the hoop, dancers had more flexibility and freedom in their movements and partnering, and we can still see this style today.
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You will find tutus in any number of shapes, colours, sizes, and designs in the twenty-first century. Many costume designers will use the classic tutu design as a base to work from, and you can find some fairly out-there tutus!
Did you know the history of tutus?
Cheers,
The Historian
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