I have an exciting addition to my coverage of Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse at the Museum at FIT. Given that we are all bound to stay indoors indefinitely, this could not have come at a better time. Beautiful things seem to be in short supply these days, so I am eternally grateful to the Museum for uploading more things for us to enjoy. Today I’m going to be sharing some of my favourite Ballerina symposium talks at the Museum at FIT, and what to look out for!
I must start this post by saying that the Museum at FIT is an amazing resource for anyone interested in fashion history. They have made many of their pieces available to view and cite on their Flickr account. And yes, as long as you abide by their license rules, you can actually download and use them!! Which quite frankly, is not that common for museum collections. And their Youtube channel is amazing, as well. They upload talks given at symposia and colloquia, as well exhibition videos (to give you an idea of what it physically looks like). It is really a gold mine of resources.
Finally, the Museum at FIT podcast is also fantastic. The Museum at FIT Fashion Culture podcast (on my list of top fashion history podcasts of 2020) also has talks given for different exhibitions, from leading scholars and curators. If you are more of a listener than a watcher, this podcast is perfect! (It’s also perfect if you like both…)
Looking for a review of the online exhibition for Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse? I share all of my thoughts on the exhibition and why you need to “visit” it ASAP! And you can also find my review of the exhibition book, an incredible partner to the exhibition! But, onto the talks! These are my three favourite talks given at the symposium- it was quite hard to choose….
Ballerina Symposium Talks- Where To Start?
“Symposium | Rosemary Harden ‘Enter the Ballerina: Margot Fonteyn and Fashion, 1930s to 1960s”
Rosemary Harden is an incredible curator- she is the lead curator at the Fashion Museum in Bath. I had a chance to talk with her, and I’m so grateful. She is well-versed, creative, and knows her collections and subjects well. And when I discovered that she had written a chapter on my favourite ballet dancer and my favourite two areas of history (fashion and ballet), I was elated.
This talk is an abridged version of her essay, and is wonderfully given. Rosemary is an engaging speaker, and you can clearly hear her passion and her knowledge. Margot Fonteyn remains to this day one Britain’s greatest ballet dancers, and she had a huge effect on fashion (both in the UK and elsewhere). This is a wonderful talk, and you need to watch it immediately!
“Symposium | Caitlyn Lehmann “Turbans, Tulle and Taglioni’s Influence on Fashion, 1830-45”
Caitlyn Lehmann is a cultural historian and is currently with the University of Melbourne. She largely focuses on the history of ballet in Britain, but also looks at other areas of the history of ballet.
I particularly enjoyed this talk because Lehmann did not have a chapter in the book. Although Taglioni is discussed at length, it was lovely to have a new perspective on her and her impact on fashion. This talk focuses on how Taglioni cultivated an archetypal Romantic image, and how that helped catapult her to success. Taglioni’s chapter was split with Pavlova, while this talk focuses solely on her. If you are interested in the Romantic period, or Marie Taglioni, you will enjoy this talk!
“Symposium | Laura Jacobs ‘Crown Jewels: Reflections on the Ballerina”
Laura Jacobs, an American dance critic, contributed the first essay to the book (Also “Crown Jewels”.) In addition to her work as a dance critic, she published a book in 2018 called Celestial Bodies: How to Look at Ballet. (If you are at all new to ballet, I would really recommend taking a look at Celestial Bodies– you not only learn about the art form itself but also the culture of ballet.)
This particular talk is less about fashion and more about the ballerina itself. As Jacobs explains, a ballet dancer is not necessarily a ballerina- the ballerina is at the pinnacle of her company and her career. Though many dancers are incredibly talented, most will never make it to this peak. She draws an interesting comparison between the ballerina and Emily Dickinson, which prompted me to look at the poet in a very different light. Her academic background in English is clear, and I love that it is a unique perspective in these talks.
Which of these Ballerina symposium talks will you be watching first?
Cheers,
The Historian
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