For balletomanes

I've always enjoyed classical ballet - as a viewer, not a participant, I hasten to add. I've never been twinkly on my toes. Dumbo the Elephant is more in my line!

Anyway, I found a very interesting article on the tutu, that classic staple of the ballet wardrobe.




It gives some interesting historical facts of which I wasn't aware, such as:

So where did the tutu come from? Given the blatant attention it draws to the wearer's crotch, it is hardly surprising that the word tutu derives from the French slang for bottom. Back in the 18th century dancers' costumes were far more modest, though: stylised versions of court gowns that bared only shoulders and arms.

Then, as women began to ape the men's higher jumps and more virtuoso footwork, they demanded more freedom to move. Daringly, the French ballerina Marie Camargo had her skirts raised above her ankles. This marked an important liberation for female dancers, but it was also a source of considerable excitement for their male audience.

Opera glasses were never more avidly raised than the night at the Paris Opera in the early 1730s when a dancer named Mariette made an unusually athletic jump and got her skirts tangled in the scenery. Knickers were not then commonly worn - and the audience caught a spectacular flash of naked buttock and thigh.

An official edict was hurriedly passed, banning women from setting foot on the stage unless they were wearing undergarments. But the inexorable rise of dancers' skirts continued to lure male punters to the ballet.

During the first half of the 19th century, when the cult of the super-natural ballet, such as Giselle and La Sylphide, was at its height, and dancers were cast as sylphs and ghosts, skirts became significantly shorter and more transparent. The effect was to make ballerinas look like creatures of light and air, but also to reveal titillating glimpses of a pretty knee. For the wealthy patrons who routinely acquired their mistresses from the ranks of ballet companies, this was a very satisfactory development.

There's more interesting information at the link, including this photograph of a modern tutu made out of air-conditioning duct material, with a bodice fashioned (?) from car upholstery!




Those interested in ballet will probably find the article absorbing. For the rest of you, feel free to skip to the next post!

Peter