The Origin of the Tutu

The Tutu, the Unknown History.

One of the advantages of web surfing like this is you occasionally come across gyms of gold like this.

Opera glasses were never more avidly raised than the night at the Paris Opera in the early 1730s, when a dancer named Mariette made an unusually athletic jump and got her skirts tangled in the scenery. Knickers were not then commonly worn - and the audience caught a spectacular flash of naked buttock and thigh.

An official edict was hurriedly passed, banning women from setting foot on the stage unless they were wearing suitable undergarments. But the inexorable rise of dancers' skirts continued to lure male punters to the ballet. During the first half of the 19th century, when the cult of the super-natural ballet - such as Giselle and La Sylphide - was at its height, and dancers were cast as sylphs and ghosts, skirts became significantly shorter and more transparent. The effect was to make ballerinas look like creatures of light and air, but also to reveal titillating glimpses of a pretty knee. For the wealthy patrons who routinely acquired their mistresses from the ranks of ballet companies, this was a very satisfactory development.

Here I thought ballet was all about art and performance, and I find out it's like Nascar. You don't watch the sport, you wait for the wrecks.