ScottishDancerMum

Your post gave us some great inspiration. We've got a plot line worked out involving making Polyjuice Potion... which Hermione makes an error on and ends up looking like a housecat! I'm working out costume details, and have the music sorted (my two favourite parts). Trying to find a line between looking like Hermione but still maintaining a costume you can dance ballet steps in and show off your lines is a bit challenging! Particularly in the early movies, Hermione wears a grey jumper and her school robes most of the time, so I need to look at this a bit. At least my daughter and Hermione have the same sort of frizzy hair

No, not yet. I haven't even seen it. The Christina Ricci version had E running by the time she saw the wriggling lunch bags!

I think Wednesday Addams is perfect, but she's oddly terrified by the Addams Family! (but Star Wars or her brother's video games, no problem?) Sarah, how much storyline needs to be incorporated? I'm trying to find some videos online but the vids seem to be mostly American and I don't know if they are the same over here. (E is very excited about Hermione, and I know the music well.... so off to the costume design board again!)

She's agreed to consider Hermione Granger. Her other favourite is Princess Leia but that might get snagged as inappropriate as well, age wise.

Thanks all - that's very helpful! Hmmm... lots to consider. She's just turning 8 but she's quite mature in her tastes... isn't interested in Disney princesses or fairy stories anymore. For vampire things, she likes Hotel Transylvania and that Bugs Bunny/Dracula episode. But I think the age appropriate thing is going to catch us out. But it's not like I have her out there shaking her booty

We were planning on using Toccata and Fugue by Vanessa Mae... I always thought it had a particular vampire-ish style to it. I was just wondering for character solos, does it have to be a named character, or is something vampire-themed enough?

Bumping this for an additional question... Do character solos for comps/festivals need to be performed in ballet, or are they a mix of different dance genres? My daughter wants to do a vampire themed one, and I'm a bit unsure if this is a strong enough theme, or does it need to be more specific?

I got some tights today - a pair of Starlight and a pair of Silky. I'm hoping at least one of them will fit just right! _________________ Another question! I was reading the comments about putting calamine on ballet shoes, and I think it makes sense to make the legs look longer. So can someone explain to me why some girls in festivals have to wear ballet socks? To me it just makes the leg look shorter and defeats the purpose. Is there a reason for them, and are they something required by the festival, or is it a school preference?

You're the second person today who's mentioned this! One of the mum's at our dance school mentioned it today. I might be able to get to a larger one on Saturday, and I'll order some of the other options for next time.

Thank you everyone! I just hate the baggy-around-the-ankles look, and the general advice seems to be to wear them a size bigger... which just seems to make it worse She's pretty gentle putting them on, and got a year out of her old pairs of tights, but I'm just finding it a pain to find replacements. I'll go through the list and get some to try!

I can't seem to source decent tights. I have a tall, thin 7 year old. Tights are either too short or too long, or ladder at the first wearing. Can anyone recommend something? Her last two pair are now threadbare - my mother-in-law picked them up in some discount shop and they lasted a year, but the labels are no longer there. Thank you x

It's so strange about Canada. It's a country that definitely encourages people to bring their cultures with it - we are a mosaic, not a melting pot. When I was in school, I had friends who went to German school, who went to Ukrainian Dancing, who spoke Polish at home. Myself? I was born to third generation Canadians who had originally come from England, Italy and Germany, but was never taught any of the languages or traditions from the "old countries" Then I moved to Vancouver where there were people who spoke every language under the sun, who brought their dances and food and culture... and I felt very plain! (and then I moved to the UK where I stuck out like a sore thumb as soon as I spoke!) Because Canada is so big, it's hard to link common threads. I've only spent 1 night in Quebec and a handful of days on the East Coast. Things that are common there are unheard of in BC. I never learned the "Canadian Barn Dance" until I went to a ceilidh at a Scottish Wedding. And NO JUSTIN BEIBER. EVER. So common threads are things like hockey, Tim Hortons, CBC Heritage Minutes, the National Anthem, maple leaves, beavers... hard to make an identifiable dance from that. And because we aren't First Nations, doing an aboriginal dance could be fraught with insensitivity. Oh well... a conundrum for another time. But if anyone "has" seen a Canadian dance, I'd love to hear about it!

Her teacher said that Canadian wasn't an option - they all seem to be European dances. I'd like it though... my culture tends to get pretty overshadowed over here! But to be honest, I'd have a hard time thinking what a Canadian National dance would consist of... lots of pop culture references, but doing something that appropriated First Nations peoples wouldn't be appropriate, and we don't have a national dress (unless you count Roots t-shirts or RCMP uniforms!) Has *anyone* seen a Canadian National Dance in a festival or competition before? (I'm terribly curious!) Balletbean, the idea about being eligible for an overall trophy is something to consider - thank you again for valuable advice! I am excited about that part... I've got a tutu ordered, sourced her tap costume, sorted the music, and started collecting bits and pieces for her comps (I've found quite a few lists of things not to forget). She'll need help with hair and makeup for awhile, but I'll have to seriously up my game with hairstyles. Every time I attempt braids, it just ends up a mess!

Shygirlsmum, you are entirely right. I'm doing research because I feel there's nothing else for me to do in the meantime... I can't choreograph or teach, and I'm not my daughter, so Teacher and Daughter are doing their parts already Until things are ready, I'm twiddling my thumbs. You are all a wonderful support - thank you for answering my silly questions!

What a relief!

I know nothing about this Greek dance business... I had no idea it was a category until coming here and reading about it. National dance either... our school teaches Highland and National, but they mean "Scottish" National. I grew up in Canada, but alas, I can't find Canadian National dances as an option Do senior competitors need to be able to dance in *all* the categories? If my daughter doesn't study Greek dance or Hungarian dance or what-have-you, will this be a problem or can she just study what she (and her teacher) wants?

If you go to that site above, there's lots of different options, but this one below is £45 to hire, and it looks like quite an ornate option. https://www.justballet.co.uk/collections/childrens-costumes-for-hire/products/just-ballet-sugar-plum-childrens-professional-tutu-10-12yrs-hire-only

You might consider hiring one? https://www.justballet.co.uk/collections/childrens-costumes-for-hire

Thanks for this, PupsMum... I'm grateful for it!

Yes, PupsMum, that's us. She goes to a Highland school, and the kids generally only go to Highland and National competitions. Because my daughter doesn't dance Highland, she's asked to compete in Ballet instead. Her teacher is willing - daughter is a good student, listens well, has enthusiasm and perfectionist streak. She'll only be doing solos because she doesn't have anyone else to dance with (although we're hoping that might change next year if other girls want to join her). Also, because our teacher is so busy, she asked me to collect applications for the festivals. That's when I ran into one (which is fairly close by, and smaller, which would be a good one to start with), but they asked for contemporary (dancers had to be able to do both). I imagine in a normal school, we'd have much less input... what the teacher says goes. Our teacher has been happy to talk through it, and thinks she's ready. I promise I'm not trying to be some sort of overeager stage parent - just trying to get my daughter some experience. We've discussed before how it would be so much easier if she just did Highland with her friends, but she loves ballet, and that's her. I can work with that We'll see how she does with one or two numbers, and if she can handle that, we'll add the third. I'll leave it up to her teacher I think the experience will stretch her a bit. She only gets a recital every 18 months, and loves it, but it's not very challenging dancing as the recital numbers tend to be geared towards the less experienced dancers so that everyone can do the number.

Thanks PupsMum That does help. Commercial dance... I knew there was another one that I meant to include! I see a dance school in the next county that advertises for "Freestyle and Commercial" but I really never understood the term. Daughter is preparing a ballet number and a tap number (which has a character element) but then we found this ballet festival that's asked for a contemporary number as well (no tap). Ah fun! We've been slower starting than we'd hoped - between illnesses, snow and school holidays, DD's prep time has been dashed considerably so she might not even be ready till August/September. But we'll have to see.

I've been researching competitions/festivals for my daughter as she will be starting this year. But I had more questions... I haven't had a chance to speak to her teacher yet but I thought I'd ask my other favourite experts here! 1) One upcoming ballet competition is calling for one classical ballet solo and one contemporary solo. The organiser emailed me and said that modern would be acceptable for younger students who had not yet studied contemporary. So, would a contemporary ballet solo be turned out? Daughter has done some modern in her tap classes, but it's not turned out. What do you think she should prepare? 2) I'm having a hard time (as I don't have a dance education) figuring out the differences between Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical. Plus Character... if a tap solo is done in a character style, is it judged differently? Colour me confused. I'm learning a new language and I just don't get it yet! If anyone can guide me, I'd be very grateful!

A "tog" is an abbreviation for a phoTOGrapher.

I'm new to all this tutu stuff as well! I've been spending quite a bit of time here, as well as on this Facebook group which is a site for second hand tutus and costumes. I've gotten a pretty good idea in a short period of time what they are meant to look like. There's things you can do to perk up a tutu, like making sure it's tacked (just google "tacking a tutu"), or using types of stiffening spray on the underside. Still, as the tutu is on loan, you should probably ask your teacher or the person who loaned it to you - they should have a much better idea of how it should look, and should have ideas how to fix it if it's droopy. Tell your daughter congratulations on her first solo!

Kingdom, not Kindome (somehow it won't let me edit the spelling)