The Most Popular Ballet Costumes

Answer 1

Many young girls fall in love with Ballet after seeing their first theatrical production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet. The story of young Clara and the nutcracker that transforms into a prince enchants children with battles between toy soldiers and mice, waltzing flowers and sugarplum fairies who dance upon their toes. When children want to dress up in ballet costumes, it is often this particular ballet that they have in mind.

When it comes to the Nutcracker, there are an abundance of costume options. The Nutcracker, like many of the ballets from the 19th century, includes "divertissement," a suite of dances outside of the main plot of the narrative. In the Nutcracker, the divertissement is presented as entertainment for Clara and her prince, and features dances with international themes. The ballet costumes for each of these divertissement are widely different. The Spanish costume is typically red and black, with a short tutu and an elaborately trimmed bodice. The Arabian costume usually features a short top that exposes the midriff and loose, genie style pants.

Nutcracker productions generally include both types of tutus, the classical, short tutu, and the longer version known as the "romantic tutu." The method for creating both types of tutus is generally the same. Layers of gathered tulle fabric are sewn onto the trunk in rows. Only a few rows are needed for romantic tutus. For the classical style, the length of the layers increase with each row, with the longest on top. This gives the short tutu its stiff, full look.

While female dancers in amateur productions of the Nutcracker may wear a dancer's leotard as the top of a tutu, a classical ballet costume features a bodice specially crafted to expose the dancers neck, arms and shoulders while remaining in place during the rigors of dance. Plastic has replaced the historical use of whalebone to keep the bodice stiffly in place. Bodices are often covered with intricate decoration.

Clara herself is often portrayed in a mid-length nightgown costume, as the Nutcracker is, in the end, the story of a young girl's dream. A ballet costume from the familiar ballet is bound to make any young girl's dream come true.