Leotard

This post is a mixture of funda and music. We all know what a leotard is. Leotard is the skin tight dress that trapeze performers and ballet artists wear during their performance. It was devised by Jules Leotard and he used to wear it during performances for unimpeded movement.
Jules Leotard was born in Toulouse, France in 1872. His father was a gymnastics teacher and so it is not too difficult to see why the young Jules showed an interest in gymnastics and, in particular, acrobatics.
Although Jules showed great promise as an acrobat, he followed a more traditional path of education towards a professional career in law. However by the time Jules had reached the age of eighteen years, his interest in acrobatics had extended to experimenting with trapeze bars, ropes and rings.
Fuelled by a real passion for acrobatics, Leotard enlisted into the Cirque Napoleon, and made his debut public performance on the trapeze in November 1859. Leotard became an overnight success largely due to the fact that he performed a number of unique acrobatic tricks; he was the first performer to perform a mid-air somersault and also the first to leap from one trapeze bar to another.
Audiences flocked to see this innovative performer's twelve minute act, which involved Leotard jumping between three trapezes before he finally somersaulted to his safety mat below as a grand finale. Incidentally, Leotard's safety mat was not that safe; in reality it was little more than a few covered mattresses!
Jules Leotard's act was deemed so radical and progressive that his co-artistes sponsored both a commemorative medallion and a banquet in his honour.
In 1861 Leotard took his trapeze act from the circus into the music hall, debuting it at the Alhambra Theatre in London. He became a major star attracting thousands of people (who dined while he performed above their heads) and so became extremely well paid (Leotard earned approximately £5000 per week in today's terms).
Aside from his innovative act, Leotard's name has been immortalized by two other factors; a famous song and an item of clothing.
In 1867 George Leybourne penned the lyrics to the song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" about Leotard, which became quite the popular hit of its day. Leotard's more famous legacy though is the gymnastic or dance leotard.
Here is the song.

The same song was used in a 1934 movie named It Happened One Night. Here is the song from the movie.


The lyrics of the song are as follows:

Once I was happy but now I'm forlorn
Like an old coat that is tattered and torn;
Left on this world to fret and to mourn,
Betrayed by a maid in her teens.
The girl that I loved she was handsome;
I tried all I knew her to please
But I could not please her one quarter so well
As the man upon the trapeze.

cho:
He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,
That daring young man on the flying trapeze.
His movements were graceful, all girls he could please
And my love he purloined away.

This young man by name was Signor Bona Slang,
Tall, big and handsome, as well made as Chang.
Where'er he appeared the hall loudly rang
With ovation from all people there.
He'd smile from the bar on the people below
And one night he smiled on my love.
She wink'd back at him and she shouted "Bravo,"
As he hung by his nose up above.

Her father and mother were both on my side
And very hard tried to make her my bride;
Her father he sighed, and her mother she cried,
To see her throw herself away.
'Twas all no avail, she went there every night,
And would throw him bouquets on the stage,
Which caused him to meet her; how he ran me down,
To tell you would take a whole page.

One night I as usual went to her dear home,
Found there her father and mother alone.
I asked for my love, and soon they made known,
To my horror that she'd run away.
She'd packed up her box and eloped in the night
With him, with the greatest of ease;
From two stories high he had lowered her down
To the ground on his flying trapeze@e.

Some months after this I went to the Hall;
Was greatly surprised to see on the wall
A bill in red letters, which did my heart gall,
That she was appearing with him.
He'd taught her gymnastics and dressed her in tights,
To help him live at his ease,
And made her assume a masculine name,
And now she goes on the trapeze.

last cho: She'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,

You'd think her the man young man on the flying trapeze.
Her movements were graceful, all girls she could please,
And that was the end of my love.

Leotard's skin-tight body wear, which he called a maillot, was designed for a two-fold purpose. Firstly it was to ensure that it allowed him unimpeded movement to assist him in carrying out his acrobatic performances. Secondly, in accordance with his showman's wont, it was designed to show off his muscular physique.
Leotard's maillot became highly popular in the circus as other performers emulated Léotard. The virtues of the garment became accepted by others in the performing arts world to the point where its usage also became popular in Parisian ballet studios.
Jules Leotard passed away in Spain in 1870. The cause of his death was likely typhoid or cholera. He was 28 years of age. The word leotard, used to describe what Jules Leotard called a maillot, did not come into use until around 1886, some 16 years after his death. Today the French word maillot means a jersey or swimsuit: it may have tickled Leotard to know that his maillot is no longer a term used in acrobatics.