Tutu

Major partners of the Paris Opera’s 350th anniversary

Major partners of
the Paris Opera’s 350th anniversary

A suivre:

Abbé Perrin (Director of...

Considered now as the emblematic costume of classical ballet, the tutu first appeared during the 1830s at the Paris Opera: in La Sylphide, a ballet by Philippe Taglioni, first performed at the Paris Opera in 1832, the ballerina, Marie Taglioni, appeared for the first time in a long, white, gauzy dress. Little by little, this “romantic” tutu was shortened and became more voluminous until it became what it is now the most widespread model, that of the short tutu. Prepared in the soft fabrics workshop at the Palais Garnier, the tutu à cerclette, or classical tutu, became the hallmark of the Paris Opera style. From 1983 onwards, with the arrival of Rudolph Nureyev as director of dance at the Paris Opera, the pancake tutu, known as the English-style tutu was, in its turn, favoured. The term “tutu” has three possible origins: it may refer to the double layer of tulle required to make it; it may come from a childish word for bottom (cul-cul) or from a smutty expression used by certain regular patrons of the opera: “panpan tutu” (smack-bottom).