What to wear for class?

05 dec What to wear for class?

I have been asked a lot of questions about ‘What to wear in Class?’ and decided to write the first blog post about ballet class dress code. 
I know it’s a bit of a sensitive subject but it’s important to discuss it.

Some ballet studio’s have a strict dress code and professional ballet schools have ballet uniforms. For amateur schools this usually means that all students have to wear black but can wear different styles of leotards. This is done in order for the teacher to be able to correct you, not get distracted by different colors and it’s also for the discipline. However ones you graduate from a professional ballet school and start dancing at a theater or a professional dance company, there is no uniform anymore. But there are still rules and basic discipline in what you wear. The basic ballet wardrobe exists of ballet shoes, leotards, black and pink tights, point shoes, legwarmers, body warmers and skirts.

What to wear to the Ballet Workout?

First Class: In order for me to see your legs and knees, I would prefer my students to wear tight clothes. For your first class you can wear fitting jogging pants, a top and socks. Please make sure your socks are black because a lot of students in bright socks can be very distracting and doesn’t give a nice class image. The socks are fine for the first class but if you would like to continue taking the classes, I would like you to get ballet shoes in order to prevent slipping or falling and to protect your feet. They are very affordable (€14) and can last for a year.

Body: For the body I prefer everyone to wear a leotard because it will make sure that you don’t have to worry that your top comes up during the class and some parts of your naked body is visible during stretches. It’s also part of the discipline in a ballet class and a certain respect to other students and the teacher. This way you can concentrate on your stretching and not having to pull your top down after each exercise or worry that your naked body is visible.

Legs: In professional ballet schools the students wear pink tights. I prefer you to wear black or pink tights during class, because it covers the naked body (unlike shorts) and still shows your legs so you and I would be able to see and correct your movements. It’s very important to see the knees.

Extra’s: I always wear a skirt because it feels great and it’s more fun to dance in a skirt. You simply feel more feminine and it adds an extra to your movement. For the winter time I always wear legwarmers, it keeps the legs and ankles warm. They are great it you have cold feet and you can take them off ones the legs are warmed up. Every dancers has leg warmers, they are an absolute essential of a pro dancer’s wardrobe. I also wear body warmers because they are great in case the studio is a bit cold. They keep your arms and back warm and you also take them off after your body is warmed up.

This is the basic information about dance wear and it’s written to help you and give you more information.

When you wear ballet clothes you feel completely different than in sports wear. When you feel different, you move differently. 
You can get all necessary dance wear at the spot before your Ballet Workout Class.