Why is good grooming so important?
Good grooming forms a strong part of the etiquette and uniform for dancers. Messy hair can greatly affect your child’s participation in class. Imagining trying to concentrate on a tricky turning step and your hair is flicking across your face and eyes! Good grooming also allows the teacher to observe the line of the head and neck, all important aspects of good training in posture and alignment
Hair
Dance carries with it traditions that are centuries old. Good grooming is one of these. Hair is to be pulled back off the face. All students should have their hair in a ponytail for jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary and Acro. All classical students from the junior school upwards must have their hair in a ballet bun. And yes, boys need hair off their face as well! One of my current male students has longer hair. He happily scrapes this back into a ponytail for me each class. He knows that hair flicking across his face is not practical when spinning across the room at a hundred miles per hour!
Good grooming is both practical and it also teaches important life lessons to our children. Holding your head high, shoulders back, hair off your face are all excellent ways all students can improve posture and presentation
You can spot a dancer when they walk into a room for these very reasons. Think about a young adult with their shoulders stooped, hair across their face, no eye contact, as compared to a confident well-groomed one. Who would you employ? I know which I would select.
We strongly encourage our students to take responsibility for their hair and grooming as soon as is practical. Teachers will be very happy to see a young dancer attempting to do their own bun, if it falls out that is totally fine, we are cool with that. How else will they learn? Practice is the key!
Uniform and Attire
It is essential to the physical activity that the dancers wear attire that supports their bodies and allows the teacher to provide feedback and correction relating to the shape, form and technique of the movements they are performing. Dance is quite simply a visual art, and an athletic one at that.
There are some key safety considerations for dancers, we ask for your full support in communicating these messages to your child:
- No watches, Fitbits or necklaces – these can cause injury to the dancer when preforming work on the floor, can injure other dances during partner work and are particularly dangerous in acrobatics. Students will be asked to remove these items immediately if they wear them in the studio. The best option is to leave them at home.
- Small studs and sleepers are acceptable but any hanging earrings are not permitted under any circumstance, once again these can cause serious damage to a student.
We do expect that after your first few weeks in the studio and you have completed your enrolment that your child observes our uniform guidelines. You can find out more here.
In summary here are my top tips for good grooming:
- Be organised! Always have a little kit packed in your child’s dance bag that contains pins, bun net & hairbrush.
- On school days a good ponytail done with a plait can quickly and easily be turned into a bun in the car or as you arrive at the studio.
- Teach your child to take responsibility for these habits as well!
- Check out our easy to follow “how to make a ballet bun” clip on Youtube
- Our Petite Dancers are asked to follow our grooming guidelines as much is practical. We understand putting very young children’s hair back into ponytails and buns can be challenging!! At the very least please make sure their hair is back and off their face eg. a headband, clips etc.