Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Partly springing from my first time audition circuit experiences and my DD's birthday which always heralds a plethora of ballet gifts..I've seen some things that I need explaining to me.. For her birthday DD was given....er....from a friend who "does ballet"... A pair of pale pink knitted shorts? These are to be worn when she feels a chill in this particular area and are "the thing". But...just shorts!!! Shorts=casual wear for hot weather...huh? Do we team with leg warmers then? Apparently the next step is an entire jumpsuit and I have seen one this month and it looked like it would take a lot of time to put on and be quite fragile and not at all easy to wash and prone to sag? But BALLETIC and therefore a mystery to me. I have also seen big puffy looking snow boots? Are these "Bloch booties" What's that all about? These are another article of clothing worn by people who seem to know about ballet. But the most mysterious item I've witnessed are small wooden rolling pins for feet. Does that....how does that help? Is that a stretchy thing? I would like to have all of these things and then we would feel very proper but I've no idea what any of them are for. I feel like Miranda "O' brave new world That has such people In't" 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dramascientist Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 LOL DRSC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishballetmom Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I have seen all these things of which you speak when looking around at the ballet world online. Luckily as my daughter has not ventured out much past her local classes she doesn't know about them yet and I am not telling her! She used some gift money to buy a portable barre for her room which is a big enough expenditure for now! But I bet requests for snow boots lol and "trash bag pants" knitted shorts etc will come. Hey I knit maybe I should look up some patterns in anticipation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 No really what are the rolling pins for?!! It all looks FAB. I love this stuff. DD would look like..you know those knitted dolls that go over toilet rolls in your great aunts house. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishballetmom Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I think the rolling pins are to roll over sore muscles to relieve tightness? But I am sure there are ladies in the know that can confirm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 I mean that by the way. The girls with all this stuff....it's a bit intimidating!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishballetmom Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 It is a bit intimidating! So much gear...don't forget bout all the elastic band stretchy things to lift your leg up to your ear and bend your body into lots of balletic shapes! Or the torture devices to improve your arches? Then the fun things like turn boards! I was looking around last Christmas... I went for calendar, book and Theraband, will leave the other gear for when she finally discovers them herself! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Yes ! Footrollers to relieve tension and 'knotty' muscles. Booties to keep feet warm before/after class and inbetween rehearsals (don't think little people would really need these - but maybe I'm wrong) Shorts, well yes, just shorts.... x 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 I have seen turning shoe horns and elastic stretchy bands at our school. I don't think DD is advanced enough for such devices but the puffy shoes where an eye opener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Oh and a shawl..... I was particularly envious of that. It looked like a drapery heirloom passed down from generations of dancers...I have a hand knitted shawl passed down through generations of passive aggressive female knitters but it has a lot of dubious pale orange baby stains and that just won't do. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Wait until she becomes a teenager, Petalviolet. My dd lives in her Bloch warmup boots and Sansha fleece warmup suit. They seem to love knitted shorts between the ages of about 10-12 then these get discarded for plain black, v-front Bloch shorts, which in turn get discarded for printed chiffon wrap skirts. Dd doesn't do legwarmers now unless she has a niggling little injury, in which case one thigh length legwarmer is the thing. Don't even get me started on the number of beautiful leotards they "need"....thank goodness for birthdays and Christmas! Whatever the current fad is, I'd advise only buying one/one pair of whatever until your dds are older - they may be a passing fashion or (like the Bloch boots and Sansha warmup) a lasting staple which will be worn to death. :-) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Bloch booties are fab! Don't know how I ever managed without mine! I wear them all the time even driving between classes(probably not the best driving footwear but oh well????) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Petalviolet your posts never fail to make me laugh!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Also wear my sansha warm up absolutely everywhere!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Oh that is a staggering list of bits and bobs. Just the one leg warmer too? Hehehe.. I'm sure I remember watching a documentary once that there was a fad in ballet for everything to look incredibly battered and worn and holey or just one of things that normally come in pairs? Some people just have a panache and can carry anything off. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 They ARE called Bloch booties!! That was a total stab in the dark.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Right. That's it. I have to see what a sansha warm up is I'm googling it now.. I sense an important theme for warming up and staying warm you dancers are a chilly lot. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I think once you are professional, pretty much anything goes for daily class; if made of wool, stripey is very "in"; holes are optional. :-D The irony is that once my dd goes to Vocational school in September, she'll barely get to wear all her various skirts and leos as she'll be in uniform. She'll have to save them for summer schools! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 There's stripey ones!! And for MEN. NO FRICKIN WAY. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Me and my sister have the pink and grey fleecy one x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Bet you look gorgeous! Graceful but also....fluffy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 My DS loves his knitted stripy warm up leggings! I remember having stacks of various coloured warm ups when I was a student. My mum and nan used to knit them for me. Also sweat pants and shorts. Little skirts are fab, wish I was still dancing just to be able to wear these things - I'm afraid I'd look pretty ridiculous in it all now!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 My mother in law has always coveted a particular type of swirly wrap skirt that has a name but I can't remember but not short, ankle length. I'd like a cane. Strut around. Shout a bit. Bang it on floor, people, twirl, big finish. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Oh god I can't believe what just happened. I meant to show DD a Sancha onesie but I typed Sacha onesie and up popped Sacha Baron Cohen in nothing but leopard print y fronts. Horror struck eight year old. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Dd is currently moaning that she is the ONLY one in her class/school/the universe without an all in one wool cover up thingy. Despite the uniform list saying NOT to buy them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pups_mum Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I think my DD might be metamorphosing into a contemporary dancer or something. She possesses a myriad of lovely (and expensive!) leotards, floaty little skirts and so on, but these days I spend half my life washing the same increasingly scruffy black unitard as apparently it is the absolute best thing to dance in, ideally with a different coloured crop top over the top. If she is forced to wear a leotard, she insists on wearing black convertible tights over the top, rather than underneath.....very strange. And she tries to avoid wearing soft ballet shoes if she can,much prefers bare feet if not in Pointe shoes. Her younger, pink and frilly self would have been appalled by this garb I am sure!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Ebay is a brilliant source of second-hand shorts/legwarmers/crop tops etc etc that have probably only been worn a handful of times. I got dd a virtually new knitted onesie thing for a fiver, (they're nearly £50 in the shops) and some really long leg warmers in a particular colour that we couldn't find anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I showed my ballet friend and fellow dog lover all my ballet stuff this afternoon when she came to see our new Labrador puppy. Her eyes were almost out on stalks. I say all of it...I had forgotten about my legwarmers, three Sancha warm ups and Pilates stuff! Oh, and my kids are in their twenties so I cannot possibly be a teenager. Ballet wear is addictive. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aballetlife Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 petalviolet I actually love your posts???? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Thank you for indulging me as usual - I imagine my thoughtless meanderings here invoke just a hint of pity but I don't mind. It's the same reaction I have when chatting to someone about my fav TV programme only find out they don't have Sky. I try and be comforting.. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Who remembers the really famous photograph by Harvey Edwards of a dancer in fifth position with holes in her leg warmers? Athena used to sell it [i still miss that shop]. I thought it was a fabulous photo and what a "proper" dancer should wear to class.! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalviolet Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2010-09-01-legwarmers.jpg Is this the one? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now