Ballet tutu

A ballet tutu is a skirt worn as a costume in a ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It might be single layer, hanging down, or multiple layers starched and strutting out.

Tutus are often wrap around skirts, fastened in the waist by ribbons sewn in its waist. They may also be attached to leotards, usually long armed.While romantic "tutus" and skirts are usually carried in regular clothes bags, the classical 'pancake' "tutu" requires a special round bag for protection and transport: folding it would indeed ruin its shape and looks. Practice "tutus" (two/three layers of fabric) are seldom protected in a bag.

There are several types of ballet tutu:

* Romantic Tutu: three quarter length bell shaped skirt made of tulle with a fitted bodice and sometimes sleeves. The hemline falls between the knee and the ankle. The romantic tutu is "free flowing" to emphasise lightness and ethereal quality of the romantic ballets such as "Giselle" or "Les Sylphides". It is said to have been invented, or at least popularized, by Marie Taglioni.
* Classical Tutu (bell): A short, stiff skirt made with layers of netting with a slight bell shape and fitted bodice. It extends outwards from the hips and does not use a wired hoop. It is usually longer than a classical (pancake) tutu. These are used in the famous ballet paintings by Degas.
* Classical Tutu (pancake): A short, stiff skirt made with layers of netting that extends outwards (from the hips), and has a fitted bodice. The "pancake" style has more layers of net and uses a wire hoop and much hand tacking to keep the layers flat and stiff.
* Balanchine/Karinska Tutu: also known as the "powder puff" is similar to the bell and pancake tutu with the exception that no hoops are used and there are fewer layers of netting. The skirt is loosely tacked to give a softer, fuller appearance. This style was designed originally for the ballet version of Georges Bizet's "Symphony in C". It has gained an iconic reputation.

Etymology

The word "tutu" may be a corruption of "cucu", French baby talk for "cul-cul" meaning roughly "botty-wotty" (for bottom)Fact|date=November 2007. Alternatively, it may derive from tulle, the material from which tutus are often made.

References

* "Why Do We Say ...?", Nigel Rees, 1987, ISBN 0-7137-1944-3.

External links

* [http://morethan-ballet.co.uk Ballet magazine]
* [http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=226 Historia del tutu Balanchine] In Spanish
* [http://saksmovingwear.com/Dance_Wear_Ballet_Dancewear_History.html Dancewear through the Ages]
* [http://www.exploredance.com/nycb012306.php An Inside Look at the Costumes of the New York City Ballet]
* [http://tutuinfo.com How to Make a Ballet Tutu]

Pictures
* [http://www.pettipond.com/swan/images.htm Tutu Pictures]
* [http://www.classacttutu.com/images/TutuAnatomy800.jpgTutu anatomy]
* [http://www.rossetti.vispa.com/bbmain.jpgBluebird tutu from "The Sleeping Beauty"]
* [http://www.rossetti.vispa.com/tutu4a.jpgTutu from "Swan Lake"] , as worn by a Ballet Rambert student(in the role of Odile)
* [http://www.dansephoto.com/photo_goo-ballet-dancer-ballet-pictures,37,25.jpgTutu and Ballet shoes]
* [http://www.dansephoto.com/photo_goo-ballet-dancer-ballet-pictures,134,15.jpgUnusual colour Tutu]
* [http://www.e-dancewear.com/Merchant/graphics/00000002/ls3030.jpgTutu out of the Box]