The "Powder Puff" Tutu
With a large assembly of dancers on stage – as was often preferred by Balanchine—the traditional "pancake" tutu with its stiff wired layer would bob and dip when the dancers' skirts brushed up against one another and this bobbing and dipping would reverberate long after the steps were complete.
Karinska solved this problem by devising the "powder puff" tutu, with a shorter skirt made of six or seven layers of gathered net, each layer a half inch longer than the preceding layer. The layers were tacked together for a fluffier, looser appearance than the stiff "pancake" tutu. Because the shorter layers are self-supporting, no wire hoop is needed in the "powder puff" tutu, aka the Balanchine-Karinska tutu.
This tutu design has become standard in ballet companies all over the world since it first appeared in 1950, in the ballet Symphony in C. Balanchine said, "I attribute to [Karinska] fifty percent of the success of my ballets to those that she has dressed."
Karinska collaborated with Balanchine on seventy-five ballets in all. The first ballet she made for Balanchine from her own designs was Bourrée Fantasque in 1949. In 1956, for Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Karinska created the knee-length chiffon ballet dress, which has also become a standard design for ballet costumes.
In this forum
Benjamin Barbara we like pics .....