What's in my Dance Bag

A trend on youtube is to post what is in your bag videos so I thought why not have one here. I have a ton of stuff in my dance bag with me because you never know what may happen. Also if you read my post about my schedule you know I have a lot of classes and they all require different clothing or props. For this post I am putting a list followed by what it is for.

To start my dance bag that I use is vera bradley large duffle in pretty in pink.

Photo by Bonanza

Flat shoes: these are for class obviously.
2 pairs of pointe shoes: for rep., variations, pointe class, and any other time I need to be on pointe.
Skirts(Black and Burgundy): For pointe class, rep., and variations or any time I am on pointe.
Extra tights: Because why not.
Extra leotard: *see extra tights*
Character shoes: for character class.
Character skirt: for character.
Hair Brush, Bobby pins, hairnets and hair spray: for doing my hair in the car.
Theraband: Conditioning class.
Point stuff( ribbons, rosin, stitch kit and toe pads): You never know when you will need to resew.
Black tights: to put on for modern and conditioning.
Fan: this is a prop for rep.
Icy Hot: I get hurt a lot!
clear nail polish: incase I get a rip in my tights.


As you can see there are many things in my dance bag. When I was going through my bag there was also a lot of trash and other weird things. I feel like the list above is pretty standard for a dancer to have but at some times I have had a lot more and since my bag is very big I can get a lot of stuff in it but it starts to get extremely heavy and having to lug it all over town and down to Salt Lake makes me clean it out ever once and a while. Closer to shows I also have show make in my bag. I actually just got around to taking my Nutcracker Makeup out but I will have to put it all back in pretty soon with the Year End Show looming and coming up quick. I hope you enjoyed this inside look into a dancers bag. Feel free to comment whats in your dance bag below.

Joffrey Audition

I auditioned for another Summer Intensive! :) This one as I am sure you can tell by the title was Joffery School of Ballet. I went to this audition last Sunday with one of my good dance friends Hazel.  The class was really fun and the teacher was great. It was held like many auditions at the University of Utah State campus. I didn't do my very best but I still feel good about the audition. In the hallway everyone was warming up and there was this sense of competition. It is like an unspoken thing when you go to a ballet audition you are always trying to inure out who is more flexible and all of that. It is actually kind of interesting to people watch when dancers get ready for an audition. Some girls arrive hours early. Each person has their own routine. My pre audition routine goes a little something like this..

  First I wake up
  Then I shower and make the best ballet bun ever.
  After putting on my leotard and tights I eat breakfast (usually I have a smoothie)
  Then I head down with plenty of time.
  Once I arrive I check in and get my number
  I pin it on and look around this is what it looks like

Photo by Me

As you can see there are a lot of moms.
  Then I start to warm up my body by doing light stretches and pliés using the wall as my bar
  After I am pretty warm I stretch out completely (this is where I win the little competition I was talking about)
  Then I like to keep warm until we are ready to line up and go inside.


The audition was an a sand half class it was separated into three parts 45 minuets bar 30 minuets center and 15 minuets pointe. I do not really like when auditions are like this because I like a full length class and bar on pointe. However the audition was pretty easy going since there were no staff or anyone watching you but the teacher. This year was the first year I was put in the older age group mine was from ages 15 to 25 but, there were no 25 year olds in the audition and most of the people seemed about 17. Over all this was a very fun audition and I would love to attend Joffery in the summer.

Uniforms

At Ballet West Academy we have a extremely strict dress code. Each level is assigned a color. That is the color of your leotard and skirt and everyone has the exact same skirt and leotard in that level. Everyone in the entire academy has the exact same tights and depending on which section of the school you are in, (Upper school, or Lower school) you have the same shoes. The only thing that can differ from person to person is pointe she's. That is because point shoes have t be chosen by foot shape and size for the best look, and the all are basically the same looking when everyone has them on. There are many rules. One of the rules is no colored nail polish. I accidentally break this rule a lot. We also can not wear flowers or bows in our hair. The reason for that is to look more professional. The other thing that is not allowed is large r hanging jewelry the only type we can wear is stud earrings.On Saturdays we get to wear what ever color and style leotard we want but everything else must stay the same. I usually wear this one. Back to the leotards when we got a new studio they also decided to do a lot of this differently like the levels names and what the wear. For the most part the uniforms stayed the same except they now has BW embroidered on the hip. My uniform is maroon/ burgundy.

Here is a picture

Photo by Me
*Sorry for all the wrinkles*

The rest of the uniforms go like this:
1- Light Yellow Tank, No Tights,  No Skirt
2- Light Pink Cap Sleeve, Tights, No Skirt
3- Light Blue Cap Sleeve,  Tights and Light Blue Skirt
4- Lavender Camisole, Tights and Lavender Skirt
5- Royal Blue Camisole, Tights and Royal Blue Wrap Skirt
6- Navy Blue Camisole, Tights and Navy Blue Wrap Skirt
7- Dark Purple Camisole, Tights and Dark Purple Wrap Skirt
8- Burgundy Tank, Tights and Burgundy Wrap Skirt
9- Black Tank, Tights and Black Wrap Skirt
Trainees- White Tank, Tights and White Wrap Skirt

The uniforms actually took an extremely long time to be made so for the first seven weeks we got to wear what ever leotard and skirt we wanted.

All things pointe shoes

Once you reach the intermediate levels of ballet you go on pointe. To anyone who is not a dancer yes, this means you dance on your tip toes. Once you get your first pair of pointe shoes there are a lot of things to know for the many that come. 

First, Pointe shoes are expensive! The average pair of pointe shoes cost around $90+. Then you have to buy all the necessary supplies like ribbon, elastics, rosin, toe pads and etc.. 

Photo by Meres Flares

Second, not only are the expensive but if you stick with it you will use A LOT of pairs. Most beginning pointe dancers only go through one or two pairs their first year. This rapidly increases on a personal level after that. The better a dancer you get the more pointe shoes you will go through in any given amount of time but it also depend on how strong your feet are because then you are putting less strain on the shoes. I have gone through 13 pair in my 2 and a half years on pointe. 

Photo by Wikimedia

Next, Sewing!! :)Just kidding sewing pointe shoe is horrible! At the academy you have to sew your own pointe shoes. They are so specific abut how you sew them that they give you a course when you first go on pointe. Here are some quick step to sewing them properly; start by marking where you want the ribbons to go and which foot is which. Then sew the elastics. I use one elastic place pretty far back near the heel.Click here for a stitching pattern to follow.  Then move to the ribbons, repeat the same sewing pattern that was used on the elastics.  Finally you burn the end of the ribbons to prevent fraying.

There are many necessary supplies when it comes to pointe shoes. You need to get elastics and ribbons, how ever usually they come with the pointe shoes. You also need a stitch kit; stitch kits have the proper thread and a needle made for sewing pointe shoes. You can get this at any dance wear store. Probably the most helpful supplies are spacers and toe pads! These will save you from bleeding and prevent bunions. You also need rosin to help them not slip while you are dancing.

WARNING:The pain of pointe shoes is not exaggerated! Pointe doesn't hurt that much at first but after your amount of pointe classes increases so does the pain. After a long saturday rehearsal you can almost not feel your feet anymore, and that comes as a relief. The pain of pointe shoes is really painful especially if your toe nails are too long or too short. The worst is without toe pads though. Once I forgot my toe pads in the wash and I had to go without any thing except a cheap paper towel. It was probably one of the most painful two and a half hours in my life! For the last 30 minuets I was dying and definitely looked horrible. After class I took my pointe shoes off to find blood and blister and purple toes. After that experience I always triple check to make sure I have my toe pads. It took me three weeks to fully recover and do pointe without wanting to cry. It really is true what they say about ballet causing blood sweat and tears!

So all though Pointe causes pain and costs a fortune thats what defines a dancer. Getting your pointe your first pair of pointe shoes is so exciting and it gives you a great sense of accomplishment! Pointe shoes are worth the suffrage they cause and there defiantly is a lot of suffering going on.

The Perfect Bun

If you are a dancer then you know how important it is to master the perfect ballet bun. At the Academy everyone pretty much has it down by level 6. I have heard teachers and professionals say that they can tell how well a dancer is going to dance by how well their bun was done. This statement is harsh but it is also pretty true as well. if you think about it you are going to put the same amount of effort into class they you put into your bun. If someones hair is sloppy they also can not go full out because of the fear that it will fall out. Anyone who has ever been in a ballet class knows that having your hair fall out in class is the worst and most embracing thing possible. At ballet west if your hair keeps falling out the ask you to go redo it in the bathroom or sit out and watch. So, now that you know how important proper hair is here are the steps and some tips on how to make a perfect ballet bun.

Photo by Me 

What you need:
Hair brush / comb
Round hair brush
1 Hair tie
5 or 6 large bun pins (you can purchase these at almost every dance store or click here.)
Small bobby pins
Clips
Spray bottle (filled with water)
Hair nets
Hair spray
* Flower or Bow optional*

Step #1
Making a pony tale. When you are making a pony tale you should aim for it to be right where your head curves. It helps to get rid of bumps if you wet your hair before you start. You should hold your hair in the position you would put the hair tie in and brush/comb through it several time until it is very smooth and has no bumps. Use the round circle brushes for this. Then put the hair tie in. If there are and bumps or sagging pieces you can secure them with a clip or bobby pins.

Step #2
Twist the hair tightly together, then wrap that twist in a circle following the same direction you were twisting. Use the large bobby pins to secure it. You want your bun to be as flat as possible.


Step #3
Cover it with a hair tie and the secure with small bobby pins.

Step #4
Us hair spray to secure any whispy hair and for a long lasting hold.


Depending on what the policies for you school are after you finished you can add a flower or bow for styling. Ballet west does not allow these like most professional schools, so keep in mind for auditions and programs at schools like these you look more professional without any extras. If you follow these steps you can make a perfect ballet bun. Just remember to wash your hair afterwards  so it stays healthy!