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ballet costume
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Ballet dancers in Romantic tutus in Le Foyer de la danse, oil on canvas by Edgar Degas, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris. La Camargo Dancing Marie Taglioni, about 1850.
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Ballet dancers in Romantic tutus in Le Foyer de la danse, oil on canvas by Edgar Degas, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris.
Ballet dancers in Romantic tutus in Le Foyer de la danse, oil on canvas by Edgar Degas, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris.

ballet costume

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History

ballet costume, clothing designed to allow dancers freedom of movement while at the same time enhancing the visual effect of dance movements—for example, the ballerina’s tutu, a multilayered skirt that creates an impression of lightness and flight. In the earliest ballets of the 17th century, dancers traditionally wore heeled shoes. Men wore the costume à la Romaine, or tonnelet, a stiff, wired skirt of brocade or similar material, resembling in shape the modern tutu. Women...

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