<p>I just found a ballet class that starts Monday night for my daughter to take to get some grounding in ballet. It says pink or black ballet slippers. Is there a reason that one color might be a better choice over the other aside from individual preference. (ie one is more widely used in shows - )</p>
<p>Also on character shoes..we have tan..would it behoove me to get a pair in black if I see a good price on them..or is tan ok for most shoes?</p>
<p>Thanks for your expertise all.</p>
<p>I'm not an expert on this, but my daughter's ballet programs have always required pink. She needed black only for an operetta performance at Interlochen last summer.</p>
<p>PS: re the character shoes, black seemed more useful. But why don't you wait until you need them?
Also, if you are looking for good buys, as opposed to expensive ones, consider eBay. Sometimes unused ones are listed.</p>
<p>We have beige character shoes.</p>
<p>Great on the pink shoes..pink is her favorite color! I was thinking black was most likely to be best. We will pick up pink before the class.</p>
<p>It also said pale pink or black tights..how about that?</p>
<p>Definitely pink tights. They allow the teacher to see your legs and muscles.</p>
<p>Ah gee I never thought of that! Thank you! Makes sense.</p>
<p>Angstridden--Just another thought (to complicate things): is that the only place to take ballet at? A good place to ground the student in ballet technique would require pink tights, not black.</p>
<p>With regard to ballet attire/shoes....while the dance studio gave you a choice, I would try to find out from others there what the typical shoes/tights are that they wear so that she fits in with the norm. Honestly, for all the years my daughter has done ballet, every dancer wore pink ballet shoes and pink tights. That is truly the more typical norm for a traditional ballet class. If there were to be a recital/performance, my guess is that those would be the colors needed. So, if you can't find out more what others at this studio wear, I would go with pink. Often ballet teachers prefer the class to be wearing somewhat a uniform look in the group. </p>
<p>For the character shoes.....I would not go out and buy a second pair if you already own a pair. My kids have always owned black character shoes which has worked for them in many shows. I know at my daugther's theater camp, IF a particular show wanted nude colored shoes, then they lent kids that color if they already owned black. I think more kids owned black than nude. Sometimes I've seen them even spray paint black pairs nude there! or different other colors! But no need to buy a second pair unless a role at a theater calls for it. I know when my child heads off to college for theater, I would expect her to just take the black character shoes she owns and if nude or something else is called for in a class or show, then we can deal with getting a second pair. So far for my girls, up through high school, the one black pair was all they needed to own (well, not counting tap shoes, ballet shoes, pointe shoes, jazz shoes, jazz sneakers, lyrcial shoes, lol).
Susan</p>
<p>Both my girls were trained by former ballerinas who had the class wear the standard ballet "uniform"--black leotard (any style), pink tights and pink ballet slippers. Pointe shoes, of course, are pink (unless dyed for performances).</p>
<p>With regard to character shoes, I second Soozievt in saying not to spend the money until you know for sure what your dd will need. Both my girls have black pairs, and my older dd was given a pair of tan shoes when she did a professional production of "A Chorus Line" last year. She wears the black ones most often, but for auditions, likes to wear the tan ones since she wears tan tights at auditions and the like color shoes make a longer line.</p>
<p>Hope your dd has fun. Dance is so liberating.</p>
<p>Thanks all ..
We are really hustling to get some dance in! This year she took JAZZ dance and the show she is in right now has her getting in a ton of dance.</p>
<p>BUT she needs to get in some good basics and we found this 9 week ballet class at a school that teachers only ballet so that might help give her a primer.</p>
<p>We will pick up pale pink tights and ballet shoes before the class.</p>
<p>Are there a special style of tights you all would recommend?</p>
<p>Also what type of shoes are used for hip hop?</p>
<p>If you really get into the dance thing, check out discountdance.com (hope it's okay with the mods to make a recommendation like this). Flat ballet shoes are usually pretty cheap, but some of the other shoes can cost a lot (and pointe shoes are ridiculous, though your d may never need them). Their stuff is about 20 percent off retail, and you can check out the inventory as you order, so there's no frustrating trip to the dance store to find out that what you need has been backordered for six weeks .....</p>
<p>Angst, again, I would want to find out what the "norm" is for attire at THAT studio/class, particularly for a teen girl who will want to fit in. I can tell you that my D wears pink ballet tights that are called convertable tights in that they can be worn as footless tights (which is what she and everyone in her class seems to do in class) but then can also convert to cover the foot which is how they wear it in recitals with their pointe shoes and so forth. </p>
<p>For hip hop, here everyone wears jazz sneakers. But if this is a beginner hip hop class, you might see kids in regular sneakers and that also works for that kind of dance (though no other kinds of dance).
Susan
PS...we happen to order frequently from Discount Dance Supply.</p>
<p>Again, I agree with Soozievt about dance attire. There's a lot of "fashion" going on amongst the dance studios and teachers, and the girls will want to feel like they fit in. The covertible tights are wonderful and very versatile. My girls have pink, tan and black convertibles. Also, body tights are good, too, as they give a longer line since there is no waistband. We also order from Discount Dance Supply. </p>
<p>I don't, however, agree with Soozievt about the jazz sneakers unless your daughter is pretty strong in jazz already. It's been our experience that teachers prefer the regular jazz shoes and/or boots to the sneakers until you've reached an advanced level of training.</p>
<p>MidgetMom, I wholeheartedly agree and prefer jazz shoes OVER jazz sneakers for jazz technique. I was only referring to hip hop classes where everyone here wears jazz sneakers. But for jazz, yes, regular jazz shoes (tie or slip on style) are preferable, especially when starting out. And even more so with lyrical jazz numbers. I thought Angstridden was asking about hip hop and so I was only referring to that style of dance. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Susan-
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. The jazz sneakers are great, but you have to be very strong for them. My girls have never actually taken any formal hip-hop. My oldest is strong in Fosse technique and classical jazz, and my younger one is more hip-hoppy, but not quite there (does that make sens?) :)</p>
<p>Sorry, I spelled "sens" wrong!!!! Good grief.......sense, sense, sense, sense, sense.......etc.......:)</p>
<p>Well D. has a pair of black pedinis. I told her we would get her some ballet shoes and she said the pedinis work for both jazz and ballet..anyone know about that?</p>
<p>I do not know what pedinis are. </p>
<p>Why don't you go to the first class and see what other students are wearing and talk to the teacher? Might be best. We can all say what the norm is in our experience but you might want to see what it is at the studio she is going to. </p>
<p>I have not seen kids in ballet class wear anything BUT ballet shoes.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>We stopped on the way to class and she got a couple leotards..and one pair black and one pair pink slacks..plus ballet shoes.
I am curious do most here prefer the canvas or the leather?
Also we couldnt resist a little black "shrug" sweater.</p>
<p>When she got to class she was of course dressed just right thanks to all of you.
However most students had on little skirts also. Just wondering if a little skirt is the norm?</p>