Dance Costumes: Exhibition Statement

My name is Sydney Williams and I am a student at Mount Holyoke studying Mathematics and Theatre Arts. One of my great passions in theatre is costuming. As part of my Dance History course I decided to bring my passion of costuming into dance. Costumes are such an important part of dance. They are used to set theme and tell the story. Costumes change based on dress of the time and what is practical or desired in dance. The following is a Dance Costuming Exhibition for a museum dance history exhibit. Please feel free to leave any comments. I hope you enjoy this exhibition.

Important Inventions for Dance Costuming

Corset

The term “corset” came into use in the late 18th century. This garment was developed to give women an hour glass figure. Corsets stayed in fashion until the 1920’s when a very plain silhouette became the fashion. In dance corset were used as well. Although they shaped the body, they did so by constraining it and limiting movement. After the corset was removed from dance costumes, many more, larger movements in dance became possible. Women could bend over farther and lift their legs higher.

Romantic Tutu

First used in the Romantic ballet La Sylphide, Romantic tutus are full skirts that fall just above the ankles. When women at the time were encouraged to lengthen their dresses to the floor, ballet costuming rebelled. The skirt was shortened to better show off the dancer’s foot work yet still hide most of the body.

Pointe Shoe

When women began to appear on stage in 1681, dance shoes had heels. Shoes without heals were first used in the mid 18th century by Marie Camargo. After the French Revolution heels were eliminated from ballet.
In 1795 Charles Didelot developed a dance shoe with a hard toe that allowed women to go on pointe for a few seconds. Marie Taglioni was the first dancer to dance on pointe. In La Sylphide her pointe-work gave her the appearance of flying across stage. From that point on the pointe shoe has been popular in both romantic and classical ballet.

Classical Tutu

Developed in the 18th and 19th century, classical ballet focuses on precise, graceful, flowing movements, turn out of the leg, and pointe work. While the dance was being developed, such developed the need for the classical tutu, a much shorter, full shirt. This above the knee shirt allows for no obstruction from the line of the dancer’s leg. This skirt was a great contrast from the dress of the time, as women were still wearing floor length skirts.

Nylon

Nylon is a synthetic material first produced in 1935. Its invention was a revolution in dance. In the 1940’s stockings began to e made of this material and dancers were no longer forced to wear warm, itchy wool tights. Wearing stockings certainly became more comfortable. Today stockings continue to be made out if this material.

Spandex

Spandex is a synthetic fiber developed in 1959. It has great elasticity and is stronger than rubber. The fiber can be mixed with cotton and other materials to form clothing with stretch to it. Since its invention Spandex has been used in dance leggings and leotards. The material is form-fitting and comfortable to move in, thus very desirable in dance. The material allows for the full line of the body to be seen. Leotards with spandex are seen in many forms of dance including modern and ballet.