Ballerina Tutus
Dream Designs

There are many, many elements that need to be taken into consideration when designing a ballet tutu. What colour? Style? Size? Fit? Length?

What is most important though, is how your tutu suits the ballet you are dancing. The costume plays a key role in creating the character, style and energy for a dance.

The costume engages the audience and helps produce the overall result.

Don't forget, ballet is visual and beautiful entertaining art form so the ballerinas tutus are very important to get right.

There are many different shapes and styles of ballet tutus, such as the Romantic Tutu and Balanchine Tutu.

The Romantic tutu is quite a puffy shape and is cut just above the ankle. The most recognized ballet tutu you may be familiar with is the Classic Pancake Tutu. The pancake tutu is short and stiff, and is usually made with a wire hoop and layers of netting.

Tell me your favourite ballerina tutu! Which ballet tutu have you worn, or which tutu do you aspire to wear? Let me know your dream design, or best-loved tutu.

Odette designed the special visitor sections just for you to have your say.

The shape of the tutu you see in performances greatly depends on which era the ballet is from.

As time has moved on, the ballet tutus have also developed and changed to fit the era.

For example, the tutus from the Romantic period were long and flowing, as they were made to look very free and light.

The first ballet tutu was worn by Marie Taglioni during the Romantic period in 1832. Taglioni was performing in La Sylphide and she wore the Romantic Tutu.

Here are some examples of tutus that suit the character of the dance:

Sleeping Beauty ballet: The Bluebird tutu is the colour blue with various wing or feather decoration to represent a bird.

Swan Lake ballet: Odette wears a classic white tutu with a feathered headdress to portray her character is a swan. Other embellishments may be pearls or diamonds sewn onto the tutu.

Nutcracker ballet: Sugar Plum Fairy is the gracious Queen of the Kingdom of Sweets. Her costume is very grand and elaborate. It would be a classic tutu perhaps with elaborately gold lace and a delicate pink bodice, also with puffed sleeves and a jeweled headdress.

The style of the tutu such as the colour, pattern and embellishment depends of which ballet production it is for. Each different ballet performance will be in need of a particular style and decoration to suit the character.

The tutus in ballet productions have been designed especially to suit the role and enhance the character.

So, remember, next time you are choosing or dancing in a tutu think about how it suits your dance. As well as feeling glamorous and gorgeous, you can also become a true artist and dance in style of your character.

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