The Lure of Perfection: Fashion and Ballet, 1780-1830.The Lure of Perfection: fashion and Ballet, 1780-1830 By Judith Chazin-Bennahum. New York: Routledge, 2005. 280 pages, illustrated, hardcover $85, paper $29.95. Like Ariadne, Judith Chazin-Bennahum sets herself a maze to conquer. She calls it The Lure of Perfection: Fashion and Ballet, 1780-1830, and traces the threads of influence between the attire (both everyday and formal) of this turbulent period and the costumes being developed for ballet, principally at the Paris Opera. In her enthusiasm, Bennahum tends to digress di·gress intr.v. di·gressed, di·gress·ing, di·gress·es To turn aside, especially from the main subject in writing or speaking; stray. See Synonyms at swerve. as she wanders through the Revolution, the Napoleonic era, and the early days of Romanticism. Thus, as she works her way from social attire to its balletic counterparts, the thread snaps. Ballet tends to create its own world in many ways separate from la mode. For example, after telling us that Marie Antoinette spent about $500,000 a year on her clothing, she describes one of the outfits, which had a "heavily boned bodice, layered lace sleeves, a heavily trimmed skirt worn over a vast hoop, and a long train." During that same period, Marie-Madeleine Guimard, the reigning queen of ballet, wore a skirt that freed her ankles. It was hitched up to reveal an underskirt of a different color and with no hoops or panniers. The shape of the costume was maintained by a muslin muslin, general name for plain woven fine white cottons for domestic use. It is believed that muslins were first made at Mosul (now a city of Iraq). They were widely made in India, from where they were first imported to England in the late 17th cent. crinoline. Underneath it, all she wore was tights. It would seem that dance, with its growing physical challenges, was leading, rather than being influenced by, the fashions of the day. The Empire style, with its diaphanous skirt, turned costume designers toward what would eventually become the Romantic tutu tutu coriariaarborea. . But at about this point, Bennahum engages in another of her digressions, which, however interesting, diverts the reader from her theme. She discusses the personal life of the female professional dancer: her humble background, her sadistic sa·dism n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty. dance teachers, her victimized social life all too often enmeshed en·mesh also im·mesh tr.v. en·meshed, en·mesh·ing, en·mesh·es To entangle, involve, or catch in or as if in a mesh. See Synonyms at catch. in prostitution. What this had to do with the dancer's stage attire is not clear unless Bennahum intends to accentuate the contrast between the offstage libertine lib·er·tine n. 1. One who acts without moral restraint; a dissolute person. 2. One who defies established religious precepts; a freethinker. adj. Morally unrestrained; dissolute. and the chaste, onstage sylph sylph spirit inhabiting atmosphere in Rosicrucian philosophy. [Medieval Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1055] See : Air . This generously conceived book contains a lively variety' of illustrations, including an amusing print of a ballerina using a machine to lace her corset corset, article of dress designed to support or modify the figure. Greek and Roman women sometimes wrapped broad bands about the body. In the Middle Ages a short, close-fitting, laced outer bodice or waist was worn. By the 16th cent. . The introduction was written by Violette Verdy, who is the most literate (and most Gallic) of ballerinas. Her pleasure in the book's journey through France's social mores, politics, literature, philosophy, theater, and yes, ballet, weaves an emotional thread that helps to sharpen the focus of Bennahum's quest. |
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