April 07, 2004

The Allison Delarue Collection of art about ballet. Remarkable.
  • Very nice. Thanks, plep!
  • Beyootiful... although I never fail to freak out at those small, corsetted waists. Having worn corsets before (for a relative's big bang wedding), I suspect it was invented by a masochist.
  • I was wondering - how tight could a ballet dancer's corset be, if she was still to be able to dance? And what did it mean for the dancers to show off that much leg to a nineteenth century audience? Was ballet risque? Or was it just not thought of?
  • Really enjoyed this -- thanks plep!
  • It probably didn't mean that much, jb - the showing of leg, that is. Nineteenth century morals were amazingly flexible when it came to the arts. I recall seeing publicity shots of actors performing Greek plays during that time, and they wore the proper togas (both ladies and men), so their arms, legs, torsos, were more or less quite bare. Sorry, tried to find links but was unsuccessful. I think the play in relation to the photos I saw was Iphigenia in Tauris.