Tutu making class brings complex art to campus
"Beginning in the spring 2011 semester, Saddleback College will add a class dedicated to the creation of classical and romantic style tutus. The course will be part of the fashion program, led by instructor Donna Dickens.
The class will be a first for the campus since the course wasn't taught in the south Orange County community colleges. According to Dickens, San Diego State University used to have a tutu-making program for the theater department, but that was last taught 12 years ago.
"The tutu-making class is a great way for students to create and design as well as helping them get their foot into the fashion or theater business," said Dickens.
Dickens' been creating tutus for the past 30 years, originally started out making costumes for her children. She attended Orange Coast College's fashion program and tranferred to Cal State Long Beach's theater program, receiving a degree in costume design.
The origins of the classical and romantic tutu were derived from the 1800s when ballet was introduced in Paris and Russia from Italy. The classical tutu was originally ankle length while the romantic tutu was the shorter and flatter-looking piece.
As time passed, the names for the tutus reversed, so today, the romantic tutu is the ankle length version while the classical is the tutu that looks similar to an inverted plate. "
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