Hello my lovely tutu-lovers! Welcome back to Pink Tutu, your one-stop shop for all things ballet, fashion and Christmas spirit! I'm Emma, your Derbyshire-born, pink-loving ballet blogger, and I'm absolutely buzzing to whisk you back to 1929 for a whirlwind Christmas ballet journey! Buckle up, darlings, because we're about to dive into the glitz and glamour of a bygone era!
This festive season, we're exploring the magic of ballet in the Roaring Twenties. It was a time of dramatic change in the world, with flapper dresses, jazz music, and the rise of cinema. And guess what? The ballet world was dancing along too!
1929 was an interesting year in the history of dance. In America, the world was on the cusp of a huge financial crash. Back in England, it was a period of social and economic change too. Yet, ballet thrived, with dazzling performances, stunning costumes and incredible technical feats. Just imagine being swept away in the magical world of "The Nutcracker", with its twinkling lights and delicate choreography, all under the glow of Christmas magic! Or, for something even more whimsical, a performance of "Sleeping Beauty"! I can just picture myself in a beautifully hand-crafted, flowing pink tutu, watching these wonderful shows - maybe even doing a little twirling in the back row with the other dance-loving audience members, of course. 😊
Speaking of tutus, the 1920s were a transformative era for ballet costumes, especially tutus! It was a time of incredible innovation. Designers embraced shorter, more flowing skirts with lots of layered netting, with a looser, lighter feel. They were completely revolutionary - just imagine if you wore a full-length Victorian-era tutu and tried to do a grand jeté! 😱
One of my favourite ballet trends that started back then, and which has remained relevant over time, are the 'Romantic Tutus' that I find myself completely enamoured with - long and diaphanous. And you know what? Romantic tutus in the 1920s featured very feminine, lace-trimmed, pastel pink coloured fabrics! What's not to love? 🌸
It’s always so exciting to learn how fashions evolve and ballet evolves right alongside it. In the ballet world, a big name in this decade was Anna Pavlova, a stunning ballerina who had the most amazing flowing tulle tutus with layers of tulle and lace to really emphasize those graceful lines. They looked utterly breath-taking in motion on stage. Imagine being transported back to 1929 and witnessing the divine grace of Anna Pavlova in a show of "The Dying Swan", with its stunning dramatic impact - I just know my inner-ballerina would have been crying with emotion.
Beyond Anna, one name that stood out during this period was Diaghilev, whose "Ballets Russes" revolutionised dance! His innovative designs and ballets were daring, passionate, and often featured bold colour palettes inspired by the vibrant styles of Russian Art Deco. The movement was characterized by dramatic geometric patterns, striking colour combinations, and the strong emphasis on modernity in a beautiful way. There is still something to be said about strong bold colours and statement designs - for the Christmas ballet shows of 1929, you could see shimmering gowns with a huge amount of elaborate detail inspired by these designs, and for me, that means amazing ballroom dancing accompanied by glorious fashion! 🤩
Now, 1929 was a period of incredible innovation not just in costumes, but in the design of the stage itself! Imagine shimmering stage sets with elaborate, stylized details that brought fantastic, surreal worlds to life - imagine walking on to the set to do my street performance routine... what an audience reaction that would generate! I am just full of ideas. 🩰
While our dance steps have become so refined and the ballet fashion is on another level - tutus of 2023 are very detailed, and beautifully constructed in materials of the highest quality - we can all still look back to the early pioneers for inspiration. I want to shout out my incredible respect to the dancers from the 1920s. To dance en pointe in their costumes was truly heroic - let's raise a glass to all of the dancers of history. 🍷
To add a little bit of glamour and sparkle to this festive blog, I can't go without talking about the opulent costumes and jewellery you might have seen during Christmas season. Picture shimmering beads, extravagant feathered headwear, with just a hint of those 20s trends! So for our very own pink tutu inspiration, think glamorous dresses and feather boas - because Christmas means glamorous!
But it's not all about fashion - there are some very inspiring stories surrounding these amazing ballet stars of the 1920s. Did you know that Serge Diaghilev, for all his bold choices in dance, also had some fascinating artistic connections? I read somewhere that he was the closest friend to the fabulous painter Pablo Picasso - a fact that still makes me swoon. Picasso, the celebrated artist who used Cubist movements to explore his ideas of abstract and complex forms. What an inspiration to think that such groundbreaking ideas, in all forms of art, were so close at hand during this time!
That's it from me, my lovely ballet devotees, until next time! Stay warm and merry! And don't forget, the pink tutu life is calling you, with its glitz and sparkle and twirls! 😊 I'm off now to practise my en pointe moves ready to perform to celebrate a beautiful vintage Christmas.
See you next time at www.pink-tutu.com
