Editing Ballet (section)

== Costumes ==
[[File:Anna Pavlova 1912.jpg|alt=Prima Ballerina, Anna Pavlova|thumb|upright|Anna Pavlova (prima ballerina). Early materials for ballet costumes were heavy, hindering the dancer's movements.]]

Ballet costumes play an important role in the ballet community. They are often the only survival of a production, representing a living imaginary picture of the scene.<ref name="tutuetoile.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tutuetoile.com/ballet-costume-history/ |title=Ballet Costume History |website=[[Tutu Étoile]] |language=en-US |access-date=2016-11-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114160803/http://www.tutuetoile.com/ballet-costume-history/ |archive-date=2016-11-14}}</ref>

=== Renaissance and Baroque ===
The roots of ballet go back to the Renaissance in France and Italy when court wear was the beginning of ballet costumes. Ballet costumes have been around since the early 15th century. Cotton and silk were mixed with flax, woven into semitransparent gauze<ref name="tutuetoile.com"/> to create exquisite ballet costumes.

=== 17th century ===
During the 17th century, different types of fabrics and designs were used to make costumes more spectacular and eye catching. Court dress still remained for women during this century. Silks, satins and fabrics embroidered with real gold and precious stones increased the level of spectacular decoration associated with ballet costumes.<ref name="tutuetoile.com"/> Women's costumes also consisted of heavy garments and knee-long skirts which made it difficult for them to create much movement and gesture.

=== 18th century ===
During the 18th century, stage costumes were still very similar to court wear but progressed over time, mostly due to the French dancer and ballet-master [[Jean-Georges Noverre]] (1727–1810) whose proposals to modernize ballet are contained in his revolutionary ''Lettres sur la danse et les ballets'' (1760). Noverre's book altered the emphasis in a production away from the costumes towards the physical movements and emotions of the dancers.

European ballet was centered in the [[Paris Opera]].<ref name="tutuetoile.com"/> During this era, skirts were raised a few inches off the ground. Flowers, flounces, ribbons, and lace emphasized this opulent feminine style, as soft pastel tones in citron, peach, pink, and [[shades of chartreuse|pistachio]] dominated the color range.<ref name="tutuetoile.com"/>

=== 19th century ===
[[File:Olga Spessiva in Swan Lake costume, 1934 photographer Sydney Fox Studio, 3rd Floor, 88 King St, Sydney.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Olga Spessiva; Swan Lake Costume in the 20th century]]

During the early 19th century, close-fitting body costumes, floral crowns, corsages, and jewels were used. Ideals of Romanticism were reflected through female movements.<ref name="tutuetoile.com"/>

Costumes became much tighter as corsets started to come into use, to show off the curves on a ballerina. Jewels and bedazzled costumes became much more popular.

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Maggie Gripenberg 1916.jpeg|thumb|[[Maggie Gripenberg]] (in the middle) performing at the [[Finnish National Theatre]] in 1916]]
[[File:Jeanne Devereaux, 1927.jpg|thumb|left|[[Jeanne Devereaux]] (1912–2011) was a prima ballerina, starting as a child star at age 11, and continuing for the next four decades.  In 1935, she performed in front of [[King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] in a Royal Command Performance.  No other American prima ballerina before had been asked to perform at such a prestigious event.<ref>Lesko, Kathleen Menzie.  ''Jeanne Devereaux, Prima Ballerina of Vaudeville and Broadway,'' p. 2, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 2017.  {{ISBN|978-1-4766-6694-5}}.</ref>]]

During the 20th century, ballet costumes transitioned back to the influence of Russian ballet. Ballerina skirts became knee-length tutus, later on in order to show off their precise pointe work. Colors used on stage costumes also became much more vibrant. Designers used colors such as red, orange, yellow, etc. to create visual expression when ballet dancers perform on stage.