Tutus - An Historical Perspective to Modern Day

The timeline of the tutu starts with the beginnings of ballet but the the tutu proper was first seen in at the Paris Opera House in 1832. Women of the time were wearing large full skirts set on a narrow, low waist. Women wore corsets to accentuate, making the waist look very small. Women were also wearing the largest sleeves of any time in history. The fabric was usually made of brocade. Women wore lace coverings over these dresses as they went to the theaters. This contrasted greatly with the costumes worn by ballerinas of the day who wore costumes specially designed for performance.

The first person to wear a tutu was Marie Taglioni who was born in Stockholm, Sweden to choreographer Filippo Taglioni and dancer Sophie Karsten. Marie was trained by her father and could perform amazing technical feats during the choreography devised for her by her father. She needed to wear lighter and shorter clothes to facilitate this level of performance. The tutu was first worn in the ballet La Sylphide to show her footwork. She performed mainly at Her Majesty's Theatre in London and Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Paris Opera. The music for La Sylphide was written by Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer. La Sylphide was based on a story written by Charles Nodier. Many of these early ballets focused on the conflict between man and nature or society and the supernatural. The tutu worn by Marie Taglioni is known as the romantic tutu. It consists of a three quarter length skirt in a bell shape and was made of tulle. The shape is ideal to showcase the lightness of the dancer.

Following on the success of the early romantic ballet the Italian ballet was created and with it came the birth of the shorter and stiffer classical tutu. One of the earliest paintings of the tutu was done by Edgar Degas. His early renditions of the tutu shows a very short, stiff skirt made with layers of netting in a slight bell shape with a very tightly fitted bodice. The painting, titled The Dance Class, took Degas three years to paint and was completed in 1876. One of the earliest ballets performed in the classical tutus was performed by Virginia Zucci, known as the Divine Virginia. She studied under Carlo Blasis in Milan and worked throughout Italy, Berlin and Paris. Her most famous works include the Pharaoh's Daughter, La Fille Mal Gardee, La Esmeralda and The King's Command. The Divine Virginia was known for her extraordinary footwork and worked hard to make the moves more intricate. As the moves became more intricate the audience demanded to be able to see the footwork and legs. And so the classical tutu was born which is the style of tutu we see mainly in ballet perfomances today.


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