Top 5 Must-Haves for Ballet Dancers
For all my fellow dance students out there, here is a list of my favorite accessory essentials.
Be prepared!
To me, dance is like a treasure chest, filled with an endless supply of gold, gems, and precious maps. It guides me through life, helping me navigate obstacles. Through dance, I can express myself and showcase my unique personality and style. It’s like the relationship between a needle and thread—without one, the fabric (or artform) of dance cannot be created. The dancer and the art are stitched together with dedication and love.
With this deep passion for dance, I’ve also explored many ballet essentials that have helped me grow as a dancer.
At one competition, I realized the importance of these essentials. As I arrived at the competition center, I set down my bag when I realized that I forgot to wear my handy warm-up booties. The rest of the day, I noticed that I warmed up much more slowly and even walking around was much more of a hassle. Tiptoeing like a cat behind a mouse, I was extra careful to not step on anything that could damage my shoes before stage time. After that, I never forgot my warm-up booties, one of my most handy dance essentials to this day.
As George Balanchine once said, “Dancers are instruments, like a piano, the choreographer plays.” I love how dance gives us the opportunity to connect with every member of the audience, sharing a beautiful, universal language through movement on stage.
So, here are some of my personal favorites to help all my fellow dancers out there express your own unique dance language.
1. A lightweight, but spacious dance bag
You will end up bringing way more items to dance class than you expect. Especially as you become more advanced. A roomy dance bag will come in handy. But make sure it isn’t too heavy! This tote bag with zippers is a great example of a functional yet, reasonably sized ballet bag. The different ranges of pockets with zippers will help you to keep all essentials organized and to prevent them from getting lost. It even comes in 4 trendy colors. If you are not a tote bag fan, this stylish dance backpack is the perfect option for you. It has an insulated snack pocket, zippered phone sleeve, and other varieties of compartments with different sizes, even one with waterproof lining!
2. Warmups: booties, jackets, vests, pants
Warmups are a must have for driving to the studio, preparing for competition, or even for the first portion of class! Getting yourself fun warmups in different colors can also motivate you to come to class every time. An all time dancer favorite, these leg warmers come in many lengths and sizes. This brand also contains numerous colors and styles of leg warmers. If you prefer a leg warmer of thinner material, these striped leg warmers are the one. Some of my other favorite warmups include this tight fitting vest that helps to warm up my upper body and trash bag pants or athletic shorts that I rotate depending on the season.
3. Stretching/fitness gear
It is also very important to stretch and strengthen outside of the studio. Therabands and yoga blocks are great for this. Unlike warmups, you don’t need to splurge (not that I’m telling you to) on luxury brands for high quality items. Get yourself some tennis balls, a yoga block, and a set of Therabands to help grow stronger and refresh before another cycle of classes again.
4. Mesh bag for pointe shoes
For those advanced ballet dancers on pointe, get yourself a mesh bag. It will give your shoes a chance to air out after long hours of rehearsal and classes. Personally, I have used this mesh bag to store my pointe shoes ever since. It prevents my shoes from growing bacteria and most importantly, from smelling disgusting (we all know). Bonus Tip: take your dance shoes out of your bag to breathe when you get back from rehearsals. This works for all types of dance shoes and prevents them from getting stinky!
5. Quality hair supplies
Having clean hair is a huge part of coming prepared for ballet/dance class. Some of my ultimate favorites to use are the "U" shaped bobby pins, hair nets, strong hold hairspray, and tailed combs. These essentials will help you perfect that clean, seamless look for performances, but also give better impressions for auditions and competitions. Since dance is an art form, appearance contributes to a huge portion of the message that is sent out to the audience or judges. When you show up with messy hair, people will think of you as an unorganized and unpleasant dancer. However, walking in with neat hair (all possible because you used the essentials listed above) will show that you are well prepared.
