It is not always easy to make sure that the dancers in our studios come to class well groomed and dressed appropriately for the particular class. Having a dress co9de for your studio that is put into place will make a big difference to the students and their parents. While I am all for individuality I am also a firm believer that having a dress code not only makes the students look and feel great in class but it is also a great equalizer. Very often there are children who come from wealthier backgrounds than others and it can be demoralizing for children whose parents are not able to afford a different leotard or outfit for each class.
How you choose your dress code is really up to you. At our school we respect the colors that the Royal Academy of Dance uses for their Ballet grades. We have lilac leotards for the younger dancers, a dark blue or sapphire for the older girls and black for the most advanced students. Everyone must wear pink tights and I recommend leather ballet shoes as they support the growing feet of the students better than canvas. We also use black character skirts and black canvas character shoes for the girls as the RAD syllabus includes character work. For Ballet our boys must wear a close fitting underall in white with black tights or leggings and very importantly a male dance belt underneath with white socks and black ballet shoes. All of the girls must also wear a thin elastic belt at their waist, you know, those belts that are now called "hip alignment" belts!! These belts are not always popular but not only do they make the girl's figures look feminine but they are also a very good reference point for their center of balance. Girls must wear their hair in a bun with a thin hairnet. They will feel so much more the part of the ballerina if they come to class looking this way. To help parents out we give bun making classes and once the children are old enough to do it themselves we certainly encourage that.
For Jazz and Tap they may wear any color leotard with suntan tights and can also wear Jazz pants, we do not permit oversized t-shirts because it is not only important for us to be able to see the dancer's body to make accurate corrections but the dancers themselves need to be able to see their lines. Our boys generally wear the same as they did for ballet with a change of shoes or add a Jazz pant they need split sole pull on Jazz boots. It is really hard to get that "into the ground" feeling so necessary for Jazz technique if you are wearing a Ballet shoe, it does makes a big difference. Tap shoes can vary with age but the main thing is that everyone has the same style of shoe; it makes it so much easier when show time comes around!
For Contemporary, Modern and Afro Jazz there are no shoes and those convertible tights really come in handy. For Lyrical our dancers wear a type of paws. Our Hip Hop dancers must all buy the same shirt that has our logo on it and can wear a looser pant and hair is in a pony tail. Boys wear the same clothes for that unisex look. Again, for each style of dance the dancer needs to have the right "look" to feel the part. After all we are actors and actresses and the costume helps us to identify the character both onstage and in the studio.
There are a number of companies that can produce your dancewear with your logo on all of the main items and this is certainly a good way to advertise your school. It is also possible to set it up so that your student's parents can order everything that you require in your dress code online. If you have a dancewear store in your neighborhood it is often a great idea to establish a good working relationship with them whereby they carry all the things required in your dress code in their store. The main thing you need to remember is to make it as convenient as possible for your families.
Keeping the dress code alive and well can sometimes be a big challenge. As the semester rolls along people get lax and before you know it your students can start to look like a band of raggle taggle gypsies! So make sure you have your faculty and staff onboard with the dress code. They are the ones that have to keep it going and if a student repeatedly comes to class wearing whatever they feel like wearing you need to know about it from your faculty. I suggest putting a system in place so that the faculty can inform either you or your front desk and then a polite call can be made to the child's parents to let them know that they need to observe the dress code at your school.
We also like to have hygiene talks with our students and sometimes we need to involve the parent too. Sometimes they just don't realize that with all the sweating involved in dance that things can become less than fresh!! Once a child hits puberty deodorant is a must.
Cleanliness of hair is also so important and if a teacher or staff member notices that a child appears to have lice they need to notify not only the parents but the other children too. No one likes the thought of lice but it is something that is prevalent in schools and because we deal with so many children it is important to keep an eye out for that.
Perhaps you already have a dress code in place but if you don't I encourage you to consider it. It will give your students a much more professional look that will be admired by many.
