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Sep 29, 2011 · Mal Barton, Costume Workshop Manager takes us through the costumes from each section of George Balanchine's ballet Jewels; Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds.
- 8 min
- 351.8K
- Royal Ballet and Opera
A ballet costume has a captivating life. Join the Firebird tutu as it travels from The Australian Ballet Production Centre all the way to the spotlight of ce...
- 3 min
- 4.5K
- The Australian Ballet
Ballet costume, clothing designed to allow dancers freedom of movement while at the same time enhancing the visual effect of dance movements—for example, the ballerina’s tutu, a multilayered skirt that creates an impression of lightness and flight. In the earliest ballets of the 17th century,
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Aug 16, 2022 · Costume, like every other aspect of a ballet show, has evolved considerably over the years. Here we take a look at how ballet costumes have evolved through the ages. When ballet began in the Italian courts of the 15th century, the dancers in these early court ballets were mostly noble amateurs.
- The Romantic Tutu
- The Classical Tutu
- Tutus and The Ballets Russes
- Mid-Century Tutus
- Karinska and The Powder Puff Tutu
- Playing with Shape and Style
In 1832 the ballet La Sylphidepremiered in Paris with ballerina Marie Taglioni in the title role. This work sparked the Romantic era of ballet, and Taglioni’s dress of a white bodice and bell-shaped skirt instantly became the model costume for a ballerina. Tutus were strongly influenced by current fashion and the advances of the Industrial Revoluti...
By the end of the 19th century, ballet technique had continued to evolve and so, too, had the tutu. As the demands of pointework increased, the tutu was shortened to just above the knee. While the Romantic period had favored the diaphanous quality, the late-19th-century tutu had a more defined shape and elaborate decoration on the corseted bodice. ...
By the turn of the 20th century, the tutu was the ballerina’s stage uniform, whether she was playing the role of a gypsy or a princess. This shifted with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, which rebelled against this aesthetic and designed costumes that echoed the ballets’ themes. For the premiere of The Firebirdin 1910, Tamara Karsavina in the title role...
In the 1930s and ’40s, shorter tutus emerged featuring a more recognizable fitted bodice, basque (the section between the bodice and skirt) and plate. The tutu plate was now often reinforced with a metal hoop to maintain the shape and look of the shorter and higher tutus. This was the forerunner of what we know as the “pancake” tutu today. In this ...
In the late 1940s, George Balanchine wanted a tutu that allowed viewers to see the dancer’s movements uninhibited by a large, hooped skirt. Costume maker and designer Barbara Karinska created the “powder puff” tutu to solve this. This new style was smaller, shorter and lighter and used only six to seven layers of net, with no hoop. Karinska was not...
Over the years, designers and choreographers have played with the design and shape of this iconic garment. In 1996 Stephen Galloway designed the now iconic disc-like tutus for William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude.These costumes, while referencing the classical tutu, created a new, streamlined silhouette. Earlier this year, The Du...
Feb 14, 2013 · Join former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli at an Insights event as she explores the evolution of ballet steps from the Baroque period to the present day, with a little help from Royal Ballet...
- 7 min
- 567K
- Royal Ballet and Opera
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Feb 18, 2020 · Behind the Seams: Ballet Costumes Carry an Embodied History. Caroline Hamilton. February 18, 2020. Traditionally, ballet costumes are made to have a life of 20 to 30 years. But they sometimes remain in use for much longer, being worn and altered to fit dozens of dancers.
