Dance & Ballet Studios and Lessons

Have you ever seen a soccer player wearing basketball shoes? Or a football player wearing ice skates? Probably not! In the dance world, dancers are expected to wear the kind of shoes that correspond to the style of dance they’re taking. You do need to wear ballet shoes to ballet class most of the time. Occasionally, there are instances where other footwear is acceptable, but the best shoes to wear for ballet are ballet shoes!

Ballet shoes have unique qualities that make them appropriate for ballet class, just like jazz shoes have specific functions for that style of dance. For more about jazz shoes and why they’re necessary for learning jazz dance, check out our article Can I Wear Ballet Shoes in a Jazz Dance Class?

In nearly every photo or video of a ballet dancer, you will notice they always wear a few key things – a leotard, tights, and their hair in a bun. The bun hairstyle is a staple of the ballet world, but you may be wondering why that is.

Ballerinas often have to wear their hair in a bun to adhere to a dress code, because of the traditional aesthetic that the ballet world follows, and to keep their hair out of their face while dancing.

Well, Teresa Nelson, a passionate dance mom of a competitive dancer in the US has taken the time to explain the difference between what a competitive dancer and non competitive dancer is!

Competitive dance can be a fun and exciting world, but by nature, it is a competition and therefore a certain amount of readiness is required to enter. In particular, many people consider age to be a good indicator of whether a dancer is ready to enter and many others believe that there is a certain age at which you are required to stop competing altogether.

If your dancer is two, three, four or even five years of age and you attend a dance studio that actively participates in competitive dance, then you might be wondering if you should be encouraging your child to be part of the competitive program.

Jazz dance, with its origins in African music and culture, has long been a way to celebrate, communicate and entertain. The history of jazz dance isn’t often taught in the studio setting, but understanding where this commercially successful form of dance comes from, and how it has evolved, is an important part of improving as a jazz dancer.

Hi I’m Karly Wood and like many mothers, I never thought one day I would be a dance mom (Abby Lee Miller definitely scared me off). But now that I’ve arrived, I can’t imagine a better way to spend my spring weekends than at a dance competition, cheering on my dancer. Taking the leap from academy dance to competition was a big step, however and I wasn’t fully financially prepared.

Dancers dream of getting their first pair of pointe shoes! The beautiful satin slippers are sturdy enough to support the beautiful pirouettes and arabesques that dancers perform, but there comes a time (and it’s sooner than you would think) that pointe shoes become unusable. 

A pointe shoe’s lifespan ranges from 2 months to one year, depending on your age, skill level, and schedule. There are some handy tips and tricks you can try to extend the life of your pointe shoes!

So you’ve signed your child up for a year of dance classes! One of the first things you’ll need to do is purchase dance shoes. Just like when purchasing school shoes, you’re probably hoping to get the most bang for your buck when you buy shoes for dance lessons. But how long can you expect your child’s dance shoes to last?

If there’s one thing that all dance parents can agree on, it’s that competitive dance is expensive. From audition fees and classes to costumes and competitions, paying for dance can be overwhelming.