Pancakes, Platters and Bells

Tutus are one of the most beautiful costumes that a ballerina will ever get to wear but did you know that there is more than one type of tutu?

 Surprisingly the original ballet tutu was not the traditional short tutu that we see so many of today.  The very first ballet tutu, known as a romantic tutu, was much longer and made its first appearance in Paris in 1832. The Romantic tutu Is long and flowing creating the appearance of dancers gliding across the stage. Nevertheless, as pointe work developed and became more sophisticated tutus got shorter to show off the dancer’s legs to the audience…

A pancake style tutu is usually what most people imagine a ballerina to wear. It is a relative flat skirt that comes outwards from the hips and is made up of layers of a light-weight stiff netting called tulle. Very similar to the pancake tutu is a platter tutu. To the naked eye, a platter tutu seems the same as a pancake tutu but there is a very slight difference; the top layer of a platter tutu is flat and elaborately decorated so that the netting underneath is covered.

The bell tutu is named after its shape as it slopes downwards to create a more rounded look than the pancake or platter tutu. The bell is a short and stiff skirt made up of multiple layers of netting that is framed to flow downwards. The final shorter style tutu is the powder puff tutu. This is soft in appearance and is loosely tacked to allow the skirt to move freely with the dancer.

The big question is which tutu is your favourite? For me, it has to be the platter!