There is a wide range of different garments designed specifically for the art of dance. These garments are collectively known as dancewear. They are efficiently designed with two key goals which are to allow full unrestricted freedom of movement for the dancer and also to look stylish as every dancer wants to look her best when she performs. This article is here to give you a quick rundown of some of the key pieces of dancewear available today.
leotards
The leotard is a skin-tight, one-piece garment that covers the dancer’s torso but not the legs. Usually worn with a pair of tights, the leotard is available in many different styles including camisole, tank, long sleeve, short sleeve, and ruffle and skirt. The leotard is very popular with dancers due to its flexibility and durability, and is used for both practice and performance.
Ballet slippers
Sometimes referred to as soft ballet shoes or ballet slippers, these are a type of shoe designed specifically for the art of ballet. They are designed to protect the feet and enhance the dancer’s technique. Made of leather, satin or canvas, they are very soft to the touch and very light so as not to restrict the dancer’s movement. Ballet shoes also tend to be light in terms of color, as they are mostly available in pink and white, although they are also available in bolder colors like black, red, and even gold.
These shoes are worn by ballet students before they learn to stand on their toes or “en pointe”; a technique that allows the dancer to appear to float around the performance space as if she were weightless. However, it is also not unusual for soft ballet shoes to be worn for performances that do not require the dancer to perform on pointe.
pointe shoes
They are much more difficult than ballet shoes as they are designed to allow ballet dancers to dance en pointe for long periods of time. This style of performance has come to epitomize what ballet is all about. To achieve this requires a great deal of strength, skill and endurance on the part of the dancer, as well as many years of commitment, discipline and hard work. The result is a style of acting that is simply beautiful to witness.
tap shoes
This is a type of dance shoe designed specifically for the art of tap dancing. They have metal plates attached to the heel and toe of the shoe to allow the dancer to make a percussive sound when their feet hit the ground. This allows for a very exciting dance style that allows them to become an intrinsic part of the music they are performing.
Stockings
This is a very popular and frequently used piece of dancewear by many dancers. Just like everyday fashion tights, they are made from a very light, thin and stretchy fabric. They help accentuate the legs while allowing complete freedom of movement. Stockings may have feet or feet and sometimes have a stirrup to prevent them from rolling up. There are also convertible tights that have a reinforced hole at the bottom of the foot that allows them to be rolled up and turned into footless tights.
tutu
The ballet tutu is a special type of skirt worn by ballerinas specifically for performing ballet. They are available in many different styles, although the most iconic is the “pancake” tutu which has several layers of netting that extend horizontally from the dancer’s waist. These garments are beautiful to look at and spectacular in their performance. Other types of tutu, like the romantic tutu, have soft netting that hangs from the waist.
There are, of course, many other different types of dancewear available, although these are some of the main ones.
