Appreciating History through History

Change is inevitable in life due to constant innovations. This is probably why so many people nowadays obsessively take pictures of everything. Whenever someone sees something worth taking a picture of, they instantly look for a camera in an effort to preserve the moment.

 

Admittedly, some things in the past are not worth remembering. A number of devices and some fashion styles came and went because these are simply not worthy of anyone's time. Although forgetting maybe appropriate in these instances, other cases must be re-examined carefully. Historical events and places are certainly worth revisiting to remind us of its lesson.

 

Many of us would claim that they do not have the time to review a certain history; this is why history books continue to gather dusts in bookshelves. However, not all is yet lost because history is everywhere.

Architecture speaks of history, when a person sees pyramids, they may automatically think of the rise and fall of Egypt.

 

If one thinks about it carefully, even a historical event can be a possible reminder of another historical moment. Take for example the rise in houses for sale in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the oil boom. This could serve as a reminder of the sudden rise of Native American settlements after The Trail of Tears. Both these events saw a sudden rise in the number of people living in that particular area. At the same time it also reminds us of a darker period in history.

 

The infamous Trail of Tears brought about deaths to thousands of Native Americans.

If moving nowadays is hard, imagine what it was like a hundred years ago. The natives back then had no houses in Tulsa they would automatically call their home when they traveled. Their migration caused them many sufferings because of the conditions that the colonizers forced upon them.

 

For one, the move was sudden. In the wake of the forced move, looters also became another problem as they ransacked the natives' settlements. The timing of the move also took place in winter thus causing more hardship. Hunting for food was almost impossible during this season and hunger became inevitable. Whenever you get a chance to visit a foreign place, ask yourself of its history. Sometimes even something as simple as houses in Tulsa or a wall in Tuscany could yield many lessons.

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The Classical Tutu Through History

The classical tutu has always been one of the most important parts of the ballet costume throughout history. Many have designed the tutu down through the ages and yet few have perfected it. The design and structure of the making of the tutu is actually a form of art unlike any other out there. Creating the perfectly tailored tutu is extremely hard to do. The tutu is a skirt often worn with an attached bodice, worn on the ballet dancer in a ballet performance. There are many varieties, from fairy to cats and dogs, most of which can be tailored to fit the performance. This is where the simplicity ends. It takes many materials to make an awesome tutu, including muslin, tulle, voile, organza and tarlatan.

Tutus can be made with a flat top sticking straight out from the waistline, a 'hoopless' short skirt with a softer appearance, a stiff, shorter skirt made into a bell shape with lots of netting without the use of a wired hoop, just to name a few styles.

In ballet's early days, dance was a pastime of the social court, not an art form. For these dances, the dancers wore everyday clothing instead of costumes specially made for them, but what the dancers wore back then would resemble costumes to us today; the women wore tightly-laced bodices and 'panniered' skirts, while the men wore stiff brocade coats, wigs, and knee breeches, along with their swords belted at the waist. While a special dance troupe was established in 1661 and the first professional dancers coming out into the limelight, the technique of the ballet dancer became more difficult and complex.

While leotards and tights were not yet invented, the dancers were made to wear "precautionary underwear" to make sure they did not reveal too much leg while doing their flips and jumps.

Marie Camargo was a famous ballet dancer, made famous because she was the very fist one to shorten her skirts, giving her audience the chance to observe and appreciate her footwork. Marie's rival, Marie Salle, danced in a simple, single layer muslin dress, daring censorship even further than Camargo.

The French Revolution, around the end of the 18th century, brought changes into the dance of ballet as well. The very lightweight, clinging, and simple robes inspired by the Greek models now became fashionable on stage as well as off as an altenative to the tutu. Maillot, a designer of costumes at the Paris Opera, invented tights. And so the modern image of the ballerina in a classical tutu and tights was born and endures to this day.