Princess Ballerina Coloring Page with Free PDF Sheet

Ballet: History & Fun Facts

Quick Facts

• Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century before spreading to France under Catherine de Medici.
• The word 'ballet' comes from Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo, meaning dance.
• The Romantic-style tutu was created around 1832 for Marie Taglioni's performance in La Sylphide.
• Five basic positions of the feet and arms were codified in France by dance master Pierre Beauchamp around 1680.
• Professional pointe shoes last only about 12 to 20 hours of actual performance before they wear out.
• Tchaikovsky composed three of the most famous ballets ever written: Swan Lake (1876), Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker (1892).

Ballet and royalty have been intertwined from the very beginning. The art form was invented in the courts of Renaissance Italy and France, where nobles danced in elaborate spectacles to display wealth, refinement, and political power. Princesses and queens were among its earliest performers. Over the next four centuries, ballet moved from court entertainment to the professional stage, developed the pointe shoe, invented the tutu, and produced some of the most famous works in all of performing arts — including Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, both of which feature a princess at their center. The tiara-wearing ballerina at the barre in this coloring page stands at the end of a very long and genuinely glamorous tradition.

Ballet's Royal Beginnings in Renaissance Italy and France

Ballet was born in the royal courts of 15th-century Italy, where lavish entertainments called balletti were staged for weddings, coronations, and diplomatic visits. These early performances combined music, poetry, elaborate costumes, and choreographed movement, with noble guests — including lords, ladies, and occasionally the royals themselves — participating as dancers. When Catherine de Medici of Italy married the French king Henry II in 1533, she brought Italian court entertainers to Paris and helped transplant ballet to France, where it flourished under royal patronage. King Louis XIV of France, who reigned from 1643 to 1715, was an avid dancer who performed in ballets throughout his youth and eventually founded the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661, establishing the first formal institution for the art form.

The Tutu: From Long Skirt to Short Fluff

The iconic tutu visible in this coloring page is only about 200 years old. Before the 19th century, ballet dancers wore heavy skirts that fell nearly to the floor, limiting the visibility of their footwork. In 1832, choreographer Filippo Taglioni created La Sylphide for his daughter Marie Taglioni and dressed her in a lighter calf-length skirt made of multiple layers of white gauze — the first Romantic tutu. The shorter, stiffer classical tutu that sticks out horizontally from the hips was developed in the latter half of the 1800s to show off the virtuoso leg and footwork that audiences had come to expect. Today, making a single classical tutu by hand can take up to 60 hours and require more than 12 yards of fabric.

Princess Roles in the Classic Ballets

Some of the most beloved ballets ever written feature a princess at the center of the story. In Swan Lake (1876), Princess Odette is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer and can only regain human form at night. In The Sleeping Beauty (1890), Princess Aurora falls into an enchanted sleep and is woken by a prince. In The Nutcracker (1892), young Clara is taken on a magical journey by the Nutcracker Prince. All three were composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and are performed by ballet companies worldwide every year. The tutu and tiara combination worn in this coloring page is especially associated with the classical principal role — the lead ballerina who embodies the princess at the heart of the story.