#danceask

[mariatallchief]

hi! im a teen and im starting ballet in the fall ,, i have a tiny bit of experience but im self conscious about only being in a leotard & tights as well as probably not being as caught up and good as the rest of the class. any tips or words of encouragement?? thanks xx

Hi there! So first of all, i’m, *so* sorry for taking forever to answer this message (i think this has been sitting in my inbox/drafts or like 6 weeks #yikes). I always hate when I do that with anonymous messages since I can’t tag the sender in my reply, so hopefully you haven’t given up on me and will see this, or someone else will benefit from it!

Don’t worry too much about not caught up as the rest of the class. ballet isn’t really something you can learn well at home, so you don’t have to try to teach yourself a ton before you start classes. but depending on how long it’s been since your last experience with it, you might want to do things like refamiliarize yourself with ballet vocabulary, and maybe watch some video demonstrations of basic steps if you need the refresher. There are plenty of good online resources for this including: ballet in form [link], or Kathryn Morgan’s youtube channel [link]. You could also work on some gentle flexibility or conditioning exercises if you’re worried about being in shape, which both those resources have information on.

One other possibility would be to take a few private lessens prior to starting group classes, to get a head start and personalized attention. obviously this is only an option if private lessons are both available and monetarily feasible for you, so they’re certainly not necessary!

I 100% sympathize with not feeling comfortable in just a leotard and tights. I don’t know what your situation is, but for me it comes from having a body shape that’s pretty antithetical to the stereotype of a “ballet body”.  To be honest, I got rid of a lot that insecurity by changing what I wore. So depending on how much leeway you have for your dress code, part of feeling confident in ballet clothes can come from picking the right clothes to wear. Like at the academy I danced at during high school, it was very common to wear camisole leotards so that’s what I did, but i’ve totally abandoned camisoles over the last few years since they just don’t give me enough coverage on top. I also used to always wear pink tights under my leotard, but in the last few years I’ve taken to wearing black tights (or like running tights) over my leotards, which visually cuts my long torso and also so I don’t have an uncomfortable waistband digging directly into my stomach fat. I also like to wear skirts since they emphasize my waist (and they’re fun and flowy lol). 

I’m kind of hesitant to give advice like that because i don’t want project my particular insecurities onto you, nor do i want to imply that you need to dress like your body is a problem to be solved. I guess what I mean to say is that, if you have the freedom to do so, consider exploring your options and find what clothes make you feel confident and comfortable. Like If the studio allows it, you might also be able to wear booty shorts over your leo and tights if the leotard leg line makes you uncomfortable. Other kinds of coverups might be acceptable as well. 

Some studios will be much stricter about dress codes and uniforms than others, so you might not have that freedom. And that can be tough; I totally get that. Remember that the purpose of a leotard and tights is so that you and your teacher can see clearly how your muscles are working, and try to focus on that instead of anything else.

It’s really key to remember that you’re not going to class to compare how you look in ballet clothes to other students, but first and foremost to learn. and back to your other concern – there will almost certainly be people in your class you are more advanced than you. See that as a learning opportunity rather than something to compare yourself to. The only person you need to strive to be better than is yourself, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from the other students around you. If you like someone as a dancer, figure out what they do well and try to incorporate that quality into your own technique or artistry! No one in that room is a perfect dancer and you’ll all be learning together, and everyone will have different strengths and weaknesses. Don’t feel bad about making mistakes because literally every student will make mistakes in every single class, no matter how advanced they are. 

It will be hard but lots of fun if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself! I believe in you 110% and hope you have a great time!!!

[mariatallchief]

Hey! I was wondering if it's possible to start ballet (as a guy) with kind of muscular body? Sorry if it's a stupid question but I keep hearing about all the rules in ballet and about being very thin and all. Ps; I really love your page!

omg i’m so sorry for taking forever to answer this but: Yes, absolutely! Anyone of any body type can dance! And professionals dancers are often quite muscular. The idea that ballet dancers are really thin generally applies to women more so than male dancers but it’s much more a stereotype than a hard and fast rule. Being thin is absolutely not a requirement to do ballet (unless you’re like, a woman who’s training for a professional career in a russian academy where you have to be under a certain weight to take partnering classes, but that’s very obviously not your situation.)

Ps; thank you ^‿^

[mariatallchief]

Hi there!! I absolutely love the style of Vogueing, but having no dance experience I'm not too sure how to even begin to learn the style of dancing? Do you have any tips?

Hi! So full disclosure I have never vogued in my life so I don’t know helpful I can be but here’s what I’ve got:

Like all forms of dance, it is best to learn directly and in person from other dancers. That can happen in studio lessons (a quick google search of “city + voguing classes” can be a place to start for that); or, I believe that balls are still held in some places like New York City and possibly LA so that’s a more direct way to experience ball culture. Obviously, the ballroom community thrives much more in some locations than others. Like if you’re in NYC you’re set, but even in other US cities there might not be a large voguing scene. Outside of urban areas in the US, I don’t know how prevalent voguing is (in areas of Western Europe and East Asia both voguing and waacking can be popular, but I’m not an expert on the specifics of that).

Outside of that, there’s any number of video tutorials on youtube and such that might be helpful.

Also, if you haven’t already, learn about the culture surrounding voguing, because it’s much more than a dance style. I think that it’s really, really important to understand that voguing comes from an underground culture of black, Latino, gay and trans people who developed it as a form of self expression. Not all vogue dancers will teach it to just anyone, and voguing events might not be the place for you if you come from outside a community of LGBT people of color. Like one time Deadmau5 called the ballroom scene exclusionist towards white people (which was… fucking stupid; that’s basically trying to claim “reverse racism” bullshit) so the point is that while voguing certainly doesn’t exist only within LGBT communities of color (look at Madonna), please be sensitive to that history if you’re approaching vogueing as an outsider to those communities. Since I’m white and not part of any ballroom scene, I can’t really give a very informed opinion on this whole issue, but the general thing to to respectful of the culture that vogue represents and to respect teachers and spaces that may not be open to straight white people learning it. Obviously I have no idea if you yourself are straight or white, but just wanted to bring that up in case it’s applicable.

If any of my followers have better advice that I do please weigh in :)

[mariatallchief]

Heyy, I don't know if you take questions but I was just looking for some opinions. At what age do you think its too late to start dancing ballet? Specifically, for males to start dancing ballet. I'm 17 and only just recently got into ballet but I think it's too late for me to start dancing professionally. Any advice on how I could keep dance as a part of my life now?

Hi! So it’s never, ever too late to start dancing ballet. However, it is extremely rare (if not unheard of) for ballet dancers to go pro if they start dancing at 17. The oldest I’ve heard of have started at 13-15. There very well may be exceptions to this, so I don’t want to tell you it’s impossible, especially if you’re receiving pre-profesional level training. But realistically it’s improbable. I also don’t know very much about what it’s like to start ballet as a man, but I’d be inclined to say that you might have it easier than women since you don’t have to get the pointe training that generally starts around ages 11-13. That could totally be my personal bias though since I kind of hate pointe haha. 

If you really want to become a professional dancer, you might want to consider looking outside of ballet. The modern and postmodern dance world is much more friendly to late beginners because it doesn’t require hyper-rigid technical training and many performing groups are more experimental and less competitive/hierarchal than ballet companies. A lot of professional modern dancers are independent artists that collaborate with each other rather than artists of a particular company.

Besides that, though, there are tons of ways to keep dance in your life. See if there are studios that cater to adult students on a drop-in basis if you’re interested in receiving a more casual education. If you’re in a city, maybe start looking around at the local modern dance scene for education and performance opportunities. If you’re heading to college soon, check out the dance department of your school and see what type of program it is and what sort of classes are available. Or look for dance teams or student clubs that are dance-centered.

[mariatallchief]

I want to learn but im 16 is it too late to start bale

I’m sorry that it took me such a long time to get to this ask, but no, not at all!!! You can start ballet at 6 or 16 or 60—age only matters if going pro really matters do you (in which case 16 is maaaybe getting into the territory of “too late” but that’s a whole other debate), but there is absolutely no age limit on starting dance for the joy of it. Go for it!

[mariatallchief]

When do you think it's too late for someone to start ballet?

as long as adult beginner classes exist there is no such thing as too late  (b^_^)b

[mariatallchief]

Hi! Just wanted to thank you for your lovely tumblr! Since I saw you reply asks so nicely I got the courage to ask, I'm 25 I did ballet three years when I was eight. Sine then, I gained weight a bit, and do you think I'm too old to start again? I wish I could get to pointe.

Sorry for taking so long to answer this–

Technical ability, artistic expression, and most importantly love/enjoyment of dance are not directly related to age or weight. You’re definitely not too old!! There can be logistic barriers though, like finding a studio that has beginning pointe classes tailored for adults, although you won’t be starting off with pointe right in the beginning anyway. (Be prepared to be patient getting to pointe, and know that it’s not something that works for everyone–I’ve retired my pointe shoes, and I’m much happier for it.)

[mariatallchief]

We're about to get real close here.... I'm starting ballet again (yay me!) but I've grown since the last time I danced. What's the best undergarment to wear under a leotard to keep my boobs in? There's no real way of politely asking this and I'm really sorry but I just need some dance advice 😂 Thanks

Yay on getting back into ballet!

In a fantastic coincidence, I was actually thinking about how annoying it is to have boobs as a ballet dancer when i got this message. I’m 5 feet tall and  a D cup so that makes shopping for dancewear about as fun and easy as you’d expect. SO. let’s talk about boobs, y'all. No need for decorum here.

Bras made for dancers certainly exist, like the ones they sell at discount dance or whatever. I personally don’t usually like them. Partially because I really don’t think they’re actually made for people with large chests. “large” in the ballet world means like maybe a C cup at most, so if you’re more in the midrange of chest sizes those might work. The other part of the reason why I don’t like then is because I have a lot of sensory issues around clothing and I find that the way dance bras are constructed tends to make them pretty uncomfortable (I dislike the feel of those transparent plastic straps, for example) in addition to being too tight. If you’re less picky than I am though, one of those could be a good option. Especially if you have to wear a camisole leotard, something like that would be your best option in terms of visibility. Technically, you can wear anything under a leotard that you’re comfortable with, it’s just a matter of how much of your underwear you feel like (or are allowed to) show off.

I’ll put the question of good dance bras out there to my followers. Let me know if a good one exists!

If you don’t have to wear a camisole, consider investing in leotards that offer more coverage and then just pairing them with whatever sports bra you have that can withstand some moderate jumping around. I really really love this leo because of the high back, which means I can wear a racerback sports bra with it, but I can also unzip the front a little so I don’t have a high neck that emphasizes the size of my chest. It’s roomy and sturdy enough that your chest won’t break the zipper the first time you put it on (which yes, has happened to me with other brands lol). It also doesn’t have a shelf lining, which is actually a good thing of you have boobs. Shelf linings are made for people with small boobs, so for me the elastic in them usually comes about half way down my chest and makes an awkward lump around the fullest part of it.Good shelf bras are out there, however: this leotard has a good one, and I can get away with wearing more of a bralette type thing with minimal support under it, since the three layers of bra+lining+leo keep things contained well enough and is actually (in my opinion) more comfortable than a restricting sports bra.

Note that in general, wide straps = good; open backs = bad.

So if I personally had to choose between spending money on a new bra to go under an old leotard from when I was smaller and buying a new leotard to wear with a bra I already own I would buy a new leotard. But I don’t know exactly what the best option is for your body, so if you have chance to try on dance bras go ahead and see if they work for you. If you just want to stick with what you already own, a less conspicuous sports bra can do the trick. (Some people even wear like everyday underwire, back-clasp bras–but again, that tends to work better with small/medium chests, and don’t do it if it’s going to be visible and you’re under any kind of formal uniform restrictions.) As I’ve said, what I wear under my leotard changes depending on the style of leotard I’m wearing, so you might have to play around with different combinations of underwear depending on what you own/want to buy.

That got way longer than I expected lol. Best of luck!!