Dance shoes..?

<p>My D takes ballet, jazz and hip hop and a lot depends on the school and the teacher. Pink ballet shoes, pink tights and black leotard is definately the uniform used in her school for ballet. Some where skirts, my D prefers the sweater like shorts she rolls down. Her jazz class she wears regular jazz shoes, and for hip hop which she loves she wears her jazz sneakers. Your daughter just needs to feel comfortable in whatever she wears and she will have a great time.</p>

<p>At my d's school the kids are only allowed to wear skirts for their variations class (pointe class for advanced students that teaches pieces of the classic repertoire). But if they're in evidence in your d's new class, I'd get her one because they're fun!</p>

<p>My d likes the leather ballet slippers - last longer.</p>

<p>Again, I would go with the rules or norms at THAT studio and/or ask THAT teacher. Here, even in different classes, the norm or rules differ. For a while, kids wore little ballet shorts over their leotards, and various leg warmers, etc. during ballet class. Then this year in the highest level ballet/pointe classes my D takes, the teacher wanted to be stricter and limited what could be worn over the leotard and pink tights...not too much....sometimes a shrug in winter but nothing on the bottom. Here the little skirts are not too popular with the teenage dancers but more so with younger ones (though they are lovely of course). In ballet, if the kids are allowed, here they prefer tiny ballet shorts over the tights. In jazz, it is full jazz pants or other capris of that nature. I think for any dancer, you want to go by what the teacher wants, PLUS for a teen, what the others are wearing (unless you enjoy being super unique and that is ok too). Lately at our studio, lots of girls in ballet are into halter leotards for instance. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

<p>Do they wear the little skirts at SDM Susan for ballet if they are teens or no?</p>

<p>I meant to say earlier we got her pink and black tights NOT slacks.</p>

<p>I really don't know with regard to ballet at SDM. My child has never taken ballet there...only jazz, tap, choreography, Dance Master Class, and hip hop. She takes plenty of ballet at home and just does not do it at camp. But overall, I would say that attire in dance classes at camp is much looser than at a dance studio. There are no strict guidelines (compared to our ballet class at home that says leotard, pink tights, pink ballet slippers, etc.). Even the dance performance tends to be less "uniform" at camp...think of it more as a dance demonstration, as kids in the class agree to certain attire for the dance performance at camp, as it is not "costumed" in the way a dance recital at home is. If they agree to black on top and black on bottom, kids pull from the dance wear they own and there are variations. Basically what you need to bring to camp if you are going to take dance is this: dance shoes for the kinds of dance you wish to take (jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop), leotards, tights, dance pants, and any other favorite dance attire you wear at dance at home.....be it dance shorts, shrugs, sweat capris, tank tops, cut up tee shirts, leg warmers, etc. I doubt many wear skirts at Stagedoor but I don't have the definitive answer for you on that. There is likely more jazz, modern, tap, and so on than ballet at camp, from what I recall of the dance shows. It is not like they are going to do a lot of pointe there because it is a theater camp and the sessions are only three weeks long. Most kids do this at home during the year and this is kinda in addition to that or a chance to try a kind of dance they don't take at home, etc. For my child, there is no "new" kind of dance she does at camp that she does not do at home. Rather, dance at camp, for HER, is so she keeps in shape with dance and doesn't stop for summer, as well as has a chance to work with different teachers because every dance teacher has their own "style" and techniques you can learn from and so it helps to have some different ones in summer than at the home studio. There are kids at SD who are trying dance for the first time (thus beginner level classes) but also there are many experienced dancers there too. The boy who played opposite my D in West Side Story last summer is going to Juilliard for dance this fall! (She thought it was cool to have a dance partner that good cause we have no boys who dance at our studio!).
Susan</p>

<p>Thank you Susan,
we are thinking of buying tap shoes so she can try it out there...will wait till we see the class list which I imagine will be with the information packet we are being sent.
D. has a really strong fashion sense..loves clothes! And "just knows" whats right.
It was funny one year we found a pair of slacks for her at an outlet with an off kilter waistband but she said she thought they were pretty cool. Anyway a few weeks later this girl came up to her and told her that she had finally tracked down a pair of the slacks like my D's but sadly couldnt find the cool waistband ones! It was cute
Anyway I will just let her get on with what she likes.
Thanks for all the tips!</p>