“Dance is indeed the joy of movement and it is indeed the heart of life”, said someone and could not be more true. Dancing is and always has been an expression of joy, something that everyone joins in on when in celebration. It occurs naturally when one listens to music that unknowingly makes him/her tap his/her foot on the ground to match the beat, finds his/her hands making sounds to the beat, or his/her body moving graciously to the tunes of the music being played. For the common folk, general partywear can be considered as dance clothes as they make them go all in on dance floors and pubs alike. However that’s not the case for professionals or learners looking to train and give their stage debuts someday. Dance clothes play an essential role in providing the necessary comfort and adding beauty to the already beautiful art form.
Classical and modern dance forms, like the ballet, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, etc., require a set of clothes and shoes designed especially for those forms. Each dance form represents a different energy, a different culture, different genres of music used, and most certainly different dance wear. As much as dance is an expression, it always ends up being the path to losing and finding oneself all at the same time. The dancer feels everything and nothing at the same time. One is lost and surrendered at that time being, forgetting one’s own worries This is indeed the beauty of such art forms. Modern adaptations of art forms portray ideas and concepts that also express other emotions and situations and aim at sharing those with the common folk.
When ideas and concepts are being portrayed on stage in contemporary art forms, costumes play a huge role in depicting the characters and their emotions with the right tone, intensity and intent. Probably audiences can still understand an outline with or without the costumes when the dancing speaks in volumes, but misunderstandings can be avoided with the right ones. Audiences understand the nuances better when performances are carried out with the necessary costumes and make up. This is purely in accordance to the importance of costumes on platforms and stages, just as it is in dramas and theatres.
Practice is the most important aspect of a dancer path to getting onto stage. There are no performances without the necessary practice followed ritualistically. “Practice like you’ve never won, and perform like you’ve never lost” is one of most important attitudes that go into building a good artist. There are a few essentials that come into play. First and foremost is finding the right teacher or a dance company that finds the capacity in a person seeking to learn and then give them the necessary comfort and space to begin their journey without any judgements. Once the major entity is covered, there comes the attitude of the seeker towards the art. Values such as dedication, passion, stubbornness, flexibility and a keen interest to learn, grow and adapt are very crucial factors that determine the path of the learner. One needs to understand the time and effort they have to put in order to achieve the many goals that they have set for themselves. While these are deep subjects, the mere basic that is required is comfortable practice dancewear that allows essential movement and does not restrict a person’s body while simultaneously providing a gist of what would be required if one is bound to give their debut someday. For example, classical ballet is always practiced with their costumes and shoes on, as it trains the dancers to use the ballerina shoes properly without tripping over themselves.
Dancing is for everyone, but when it is a professionality there are so many things that go into building a successful career. Passion and profession being the same thing is a rare occurrence, but effort is the key word to achieve that.
