At rehearsal with Los Angeles Ballet, dancers perfect their roles and themselves
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Set us as preferred Timothée Chalamet was obviously wrong about ballet no longer being a cultural force when he made his ill-fated comments earlier this year.For one, he simply needed to look down at his girlfriend Kylie Jenner’s shoes; she’s been credited with making ballet flats ubiquitous again via a single pair featured in a 2023 Instagram post.
As evidenced by Jenner and countless other women, ballet core — the aesthetic inspired by the off-duty and rehearsal style of professional ballet dancers — has transcended its origins as an early 2020s trend rooted in lockdown comfy clothes to become something like everyday closet staples, from bodysuits and bodices to satin skirts and bows.Just this summer, Repetto debuted a collaboration with Birkenstock that includes a pair of pale pink “Boston” clogs reimagined as ballet slippers, if you can believe it, complete with satin ribbons and renamed “Opera” for the occasion.Ballet core may be a recent trend in name, but little girls, including me, have always revered a ballerina.
When I made the tiny dancer in my music box turn pirouette after pirouette, I was captivated by more than just her pretty miniature tutu.I was imagining what it would be like to be her, so perfectly balanced en pointe, the embodiment of feminine beauty and grace.
Alas, while I took ballet lessons as a child, I did not grow up to join a company.I learned instead that ballet is grueling, often painful work made to look effortless by the incredible professional dancers who dedicate their lives to the art form.
But with a ballet core wardrobe, I can dress like one anyway, play the part of sophisticated dancer — sophisticated woman — in my spandex and satin.There is something about stepping into my Steve Madden black leather ballet Mary Janes (dupes for the Row’s classic pair, bien sûr)...