Ballerina Tutus
Dream Designs

Ballerina tutus 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.

There are many, many elements that need to be taken into consideration when designing a ballet tutu. What colour? Style? Size? Fit? Length? Let me reveal the top secrets when choosing the perfect tutu.

One of the most important factors is how your tutu suits the ballet you are dancing.

There are many different styles of ballet tutus, like the Romantic Tutu and Balanchine Tutu.

Ballet is very visually beautiful, so the costumes are a huge part to every performance you see.

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 relates to which era the ballet is from. 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.

As time has moved on, ballet tutus have 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. It is quite a puffy shape and is cut just above the ankle.

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

Sleeping Beauty ballet: The tutu used for the "Bluebird" solo often has delicate wing or feather decoration to represent a bird. Of course, it is also the colour blue and usually has different shades.

Swan Lake ballet: The main ballerina, Odette, wears a pure and classic white tutu to portray her beautiful character as the white swan. She may have a feathered headdress or pearls and diamonds sewn onto the tutu. When she turns into the black swan, this purity switches and she wears a black tutu with dark make up.

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

As you can see, the style of the tutu will depends on which ballet production it is for. The tutus in ballet productions have been designed especially to suit the role and enhance the character.

Each different ballet performance will have a particular style and decoration to suit the character, so the colour or pattern will change for each one.

Next time you are choosing your ballet tutu, you can think about how it relates to your dance.

As well as feeling glamorous and gorgeous in a tutu, you can also become a true artist and dance in style of your character.

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