Dance Costume Debate

[Ceila]

Wow, an OP who actually comes back and follows up! how unusual, lol.

The girls look just adorable and like they're having lots of fun. So glad it all worked out!

 

[aaarcher86]

Adorable! Our recital was chaos with so many dances, but now I'm sad the season is over!

So much fun!

 

[cabanafrau]

Adorable! Our recital was chaos with so many dances, but now I'm sad the season is over!

So much fun!

Got together with my dance mom friends a few weeks ago and upcoming recital season was mentioned. I had to honestly say I have no idea how I did it all those years. If I had kids in it now I genuinely would lose my mind, just no time for that. Seems like another lifetime now.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Our recital season is now gearing up - big recital isn't until July 5th! It hasn't been too mad this year though, as DD is only in 2 dances (maybe 3 - waiting to find out about the 3rd). Last year she was in her normal dances, plus she was Fritz in the Nutcracker (they did a shortened version) plus she had to learn 2 other dances 2 days before the show to replace a girl in a lower grade who hurt her knee (luckily DD is small for her age and fit into the younger girl's costumes perfectly)!

 

[jak]

Glad it sounds like everything worked out, OP. Your niece is a cutie!

I'll join the "pointe shoe pain" club! DD has hard-to-fit feet; 2 different sizes, hereditary bunions, pronounced achilles, and strong feet with not great arches. The happiest day of my life was when the 3rd trained pointe shoe fitter agreed with the two previous, that DD really needed to wear Gaynor Mindens. We were trying to avoid this, but after 3 recommendations we ordered the Gaynors and never looked back! We went from buying 12 or more pairs of pointe shoes a year to buying FOUR pairs! I do not miss the constant ordering, panicking when SIs or Nutcracker season approached because of shoe backorders (Russian Pointe is terrible for this), the endless jet glue, and of course continual sewing of ribbons and elastics. Now, we order 2 pairs just before Nut season and and 2 pairs in January, instead of multiple pairs whenever I could afford them or they were in stock. I bet I am saving $800 a year now that DD is in Gaynors. I know GMs get a lot of bashing and opinions, and I don't think they are for everyone (especially dancers with fewer than 3 or 4 years of pointe training), but they have been a life saver for both DD's feet and my wallet!

(and when DD wore Suffolks, I think she danced through them just as quickly as any others, although I think her Freeds were the worst for wearing out quickly!)

I have to agree with you with regards to Freeds. Unfortunately for me, they were the shoes my feet decided they liked, but I've found that a shank harder than the standard strength shank, rotating pairs and lots of Jet Glue has helped me not to kill my Freeds as quickly. Still, wearing Freeds means that every time I have a performance I must wear a new pair because there's no way to know for sure when any given pair will die, and once they start to die they do so very quickly. My friends all think I'm crazy dancing in brand new, never-before-worn shoes, but Freeds really are sew-and-go shoes- there's no need to break them in ahead of time (at least for me). I have been intrigued by Gaynors recently, and the thought of shoes that supposedly last as long as they do is very appealing, but there just so different looking than other shoes, and from my experience seeing them on other girls, I think if they aren't on just the right feet, they tend to look rather odd. Of course, that's just my opinion, but between that and my love for Freeds, I've been hesitant to try them.

 

[SEA333]

Looks OK to me...I always hated yellow on my dark haired-semi-olived skin daughter, but other than the color, it seems pretty age appropriate.