Confuddled

Hi, they fitted my daughter from the age 8-9, and she too is small, no sorry I don't have any smaller jazz shoes, if you need any more help, let me know

Thanks, I'll take them. If they're too big she'll always grow! Do you want to pm me your PayPal address and the postage cost?

 

 

  

I've got brand new Dance Depot full sole laced or slip on jazz shoes for £5 plus postage if that's any use.

Hmm, she's had Bloch up until now as the others we tried were too narrow. Have you any idea how wide Dance Depot ones come up? She's very wide at the toe / ball of the foot, though narrow at the ankle.

Does anyone have any heel taps that would fit a size 13 Bloch tap shoe?

 

Thanks!

Any idea what height the black Bloch jazz trousers fit? I have a small 8yo, she's about 125cm now, I think. Also, do you have any jazz shoes in smaller sizes by any chance? I think she's about to need them in a size 1.

Older students in the school are often excellent sources of help when it comes to this sort of thing too. When my DD was little she used to wriggle dreadfully when I was trying to do her hair and make up but would sit patiently for any of the "big girls" who would help! A quick look in their make up boxes will give you good clues too.

Now there's a thought, post her in with my best effort and a 'ask [big girl who she admires hugely and is lovely to her] whether your make-up is OK'. That could work well. Thanks!

Confuddled, 

 

Have you also considered how you will remove the makeup?

 

Wet wipes are popular and convenient, but all are drying on the skin and the cheaper you go the more harsh the chemicals are used more likely to cause a skin reaction.

 

The shake and mix type like Nivea Micllear (sorry for the spelling) but any brand is good and used with cotton wool pads. One pad soaked in the liquid held for a second or two over the eye tends to dissolve the makeup with very little wipe action. Thus reducing any risk of damaging the fragile skin underneath.

 

Just ensure you have buy a remover before you get home after a performance and then discover its the one item you forgot to buy at 11pm!!!

 

We've probably all been there.

 

I was going to use sensitive wipes, but that sounds like a better plan, thanks!

Thanks so much for all the advice. Just as I finally sort out a reliable method of doing a decent bun, another challenge comes along. I hate to think what it's going to be next...

I could French plait it (I can plait for Britain) but it would mean sectioning into at least 6 bits and plaiting all of them towards the pony tail at the back to catch it all.  But I don't *think* that sort of fussiness would be allowed.  

So far, conditioner does nowt.  But it may be just a question of finding the right one?

I've seen girls with plaits going in to buns for class and for youth ballet rehearsals, but I've never been to a competition so I don't know if it would be OK. Also, I'm impressed you can do them! On the conditioning spray, maybe your hairdresser could advise? We just have the Vosene tea tree one from Tescos, bought in a (so far successful) attempt to avoid nits at school.

Pictures, that's so useful, thank you! I'm dithering between the MUA Superdrug option and the starter kit that DancingShoes recommended. It's £25, but since she'll no doubt be in more shows it might be worth it...

You'll be surprised how much mascara can make a difference.

Id be tempted for a young child to try a tinted moisturiser but apply it with a brush or songs not with fingers for a better effect.

OK, that's actually what I use when I wear make up (which isn't very often). Thanks for your help, I'm pulling together a little shopping list for a trip to Boots.

I agree with picturesinthe firelight. 

 

Is the show ballet focused or modern more Musical theatre. The latter tends to be stronger ballet is more muted. 

 

Either way for just 3 shows but maybe the start of things to come. 

 

Pop into your local chemist, don't go mad. A powder or liquid foundation in similar skin tone, a small rose coloured blush, subtle blue tends to be used for the younger age then browns and a tad of mascara, eye liner at a push but good luck on application! 

 

A small compact powder just to 'set' and hide the shine of the makeup.  Some makeup no matter how subtle is better than none due to the stage lights.  Have a chat with other mums in the class if there are to be group dancers. It is really best that all the performers in a group have similar if not the same makeup. 

 

Ps Foundation can be shared if liquid and applied with fingers (easier for hygiene) or small sponges that can be washed. This spreads the cost. 

 

Good Luck, your DD will be so excited, if you take care of these products you will have them for next time.

It's a ballet show, with a bit of modern. So it sounds like I should take her to Boots and find a basic liquid foundation and a sponge, a cheap eyeliner and see if we can manage it and maybe see if I can get a sample size of mascara as I think she's got such dark, thick lashes it's probably not going to add much. Something like that?

Pictures, they are providing lipstick, blusher and eyeshadow (so that the colours match), so this is just for base. I agree, her skin tone is lovely and even so foundation does seem unnecessary. Maybe I could get away without it? But I'd still need mascara and eye underliner (I assume that means eye liner). I can't put mascara on myself without poking myself in the eye, so I've no idea how to do it on her. She has very dark, long lashes anyway, so I don't think it'll add much.

 

DancingShoes, that would be wonderful, if you could send me the pages on eye make-up and foundation. I'll pm you. Thanks!

I've just had instructions that my daughter needs to wear foundation, mascara and eye underliner for a show. I'm OK with it in principle (given theatre lighting etc) but I don't wear make-up and I'm not even sure what eye underliner is and what I should do with it.

 

Can anyone recommend some suitable products and maybe a YouTube video or something on what to do with them? It's just for three shows, so I don't want to spend tons of money, but she does have sensitive skin so it probably needs to be fairly gentle / hypoallergenic.

I've seen girls with their hair French plaited to get all the wispy bits and then the bun, it's way beyond my skill level but would that be an option? Also, a plant mister is handy to get the hair evenly damp before you start. The other thing that I use (but my daughter's hair is very straight, so maybe not appropriate) is that spray in conditioner. It makes it a bit greaser and heavier, and so it stays better. I have the anti-nit one for school, anyway, so I tried it one day and it does seem to help.

If you go to the 'Registering for auditions' section and click through, the age criteria are stated on the form under where you enter the child's date of birth. It says:

AGE ELIGIBILITY: Girls aged 9-14 (born 31/12/2002 - 01/01/2008); Boys aged 9-16 (born 30/12/2000 - 01/01/2008).

Thanks! I hadn't thought to go the registering bit, as I thought I needed to know about age cut-offs before deciding whether I could register. Anyway, that's clear and she's too young.

I've had a look at the website but am having trouble working out when the children have to 9 in order to audition. Does anyone know off the top of their head? If not, I'll keep trawling through as it must be there somewhere...

 

I suspect DD is too young (only just eight) but it's so close to us that it would be ideal if not...

The girl in the video is called Naomi and I've never seen her with a messy or bumpy bun in the entire time we've known/have been talking to each other. Her hair isn't very thick, but the way she flattens her ponytail down is so thorough, maybe it works with thick hair, too? I haven't tried it yet but I can't see why it wouldn't.

Instead of gel she just uses a water spray bottle (and a lot of patience!) do get everything flat and to eliminate any flyaways. Only after that she uses hair spray to fixate everything. If that combination is enough to hold her hair down it certainly would get your DD around having to wash out her hair after every class, Snowflake. Maybe it can even work for Confuddled, together with the conditioner instead of hairspray?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_F-ppHz79w  <-- It is a little bit lengthy but she's done with the ponytail around the nine minute mark. She also uses a lot of bobby pins that she hides under the bun in the end, that should help with smoothing out your DDs' hair, too. After that, she just does a two-strand cinnabun and puts in a hair net. So unless you want to watch someone else doing that kind of bun, you're not missing much.

Thanks, but her hair is so much thinner she doesn't get the lumpy bit at all. I was wondering whether doing three (or four!) strands would work better, it's just sheer volume of hair combined with the thick hairband that's needed to hold it. I must have a couple of tries before she goes off to her summer school, where apparently 'immaculate' hair is required. I need to perfect a bun that doesn't disintegrate half way through the day (or get caught on the regulation hoody), as she can barely manage a messy pony tail by herself.

I've been practicing a cinna-bun on DD, she has waist length (but she's only 8, so it's all relative), thick, very straight hair. I can get the bun to look quite good, but the two bits which come out of the pony-tail always stick up a bit as the hair is thick and the hairband I use to get a decent hold is also thick. Is there any way to stop the middle being lumpy? She prefers it flat, as she says it moves less when she dances.

 

I usually do a plaited bun as I find that easier, but she likes the cinna-bun so much I do it when we have a bit more time if it goes wrong.

 

I am using Bunheads bun net and long, V-shaped pins. She hates hairspray, so I don't use that except for exams / shows, though she will tolerate a bit of spray-in conditioner which makes it a bit less wispy.

Specific exercises I've been doing the last few months are just mainly rises. On 2 legs to start with, parallel. Pay attention to posture and weight placement. I started with 10, and increased as time went on and how I feel as well.

Once 2 legs are comfortable move on to turned out in 1st.

Also can do 1 leg rises. I started with holding onto something first and gradually take my hand off.

Make sure stretch the legs out (especially the calves) as they will get tired and tight. Last thing you want is to get injured!

  

'Rises' on one leg or two are great for strengthening and alignment, which helps everything. My DD started doing them when she was 11 as preparation for pointe, so they are a great foundation exercise for all sorts of things. She should hold on to something solid with one hand and do them in parallel, with knees in line with feet. We were told to use your age as a guide, so she could do 8 on each leg to start with. (It's not complicated – just going from standing with feet flat up through to the highest she can stand on tiptoes and down again, slowly and with control). Can even be done while watching TV

I may be being entirely stupid here, but I don't understand what both these posts mean by 'in parallel'. As in, feet forward? Her natural standing position is first position, so that would be the most comfortable for her, I think, rather than feet facing forward and parallel.

That's so helpful, thank you! I will show her this thread as much of the terminology makes no sense to me (no ballet experience at all) but I'm sure she will know what it means, and if it's beyond what she's learnt (she's doing Grade 1 and also does Grade 2 classes) then I won't let her do it.

So my daughter (8yo) has been told by her ballet teacher she needs to be 'lighter' and jump higher. I'm assuming this means landing without sounding like a baby elephant, while also going higher. She's finding it very difficult to know how to practice this, as she's been told to do over the summer. Are there any top tips, or YouTube videos she could watch to help her? I can't see that just practising without knowing what she's currently doing wrong will help...

 

There is no possibility she won't practise over the summer, she's completely dancing obsessed plus she's got a week of summer school, so I'd rather she was doing something that would actually help rather than ingraining bad habits.

That's all food for thought, thanks.

 

If it was a modern class at a more suitable level it would be a no-brainer, but I worry that this will add on yet another class which she will not want to give up, and she will end up doing more hours of dance than is right for her (or for the rest of the family, which is also a consideration). The other consideration is that what she really loves is performing, and the only opportunities for that (at her age) seem to be ballet, so I'm thinking that it makes sense to concentrate on that for the moment.

I've got a bit of a dilemma about next term's dancing for my 8yo daughter, and I wondered if anyone here would be able to give me a dancer's take on it? I will also talk to her teacher, but she's very busy and may not have much time to discuss it.

 

She's currently doing 3 hours of ballet a week (G1 and G2 classes, will do G1 at Xmas). Plus one mixed tap / modern class which is much too easy, but is a time we can do (the right level tap and modern is on a day I can't get her there). Her teacher has suggested adding in contemporary.

 

But I thought contemporary was more for older children? And also, that you needed to have done a fair amount of modern (which she hasn't, the easy tap and modern class is focusing on tap for an exam at Easter).

 

My daughter loves performing, so her priority is to be able to do more shows (the school only does them every few years, so this means auditions for youth ballets).

I think you are looking at the wrong ones, you're lost keep by at the modesty pants designed to match costumes.

It's dance briefs you need, the fabric is tactel in most cases. Without going into too much detail it's moisture absorbent.

Oh bother! Thanks for warning me, I think I will ring them up and ask for their advice, seems like the best way forward.

Thanks everyone, that's so useful. I'm a bit aghast at the price of the Wear Moi ones, but on the other hand they are the only cotton ones I've found (the others seem to be nylon, as far as I can tell). I think cotton is probably comfier and more hygienic - and also it's what my daughter is used to, which always helps.

 

Final question, at that price I'm buying one pair only. Her class leotard is pale pink, the summer school one is black. I'm assuming white pants won't show under a black leotard, but that black ones would under the light pink leotard, so I should go for white? They don't seem to have a flesh coloured option.

I've had a look at the M&S ones and they might be ok, but I think flesh coloured would be better and they only do black and white. She will be wearing tights, but she's very picky about how things feel and I suspect she won't like wearing them without pants. The First Position ones look like the Katz ones, I might see which is cheapest and get one pair to try.

 

Shygirlsmum If you have a spare pair of First Position ones in a 6-8, I'd happily buy them.