How to Dress for a Ballroom Dance Competition
Ballroom dance competition requires a special wardrobe. You cannot dance freely in typical evening wear because it doesn't have the give and flow of ballroom dance competition clothing. You not only want your clothing to give you freedom of movement, you want it to enhance your movements.
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Instructions
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Choose a long, full dance-wear skirt or dress in a bright color that suits you. Avoid black, especially if your partner is wearing it, because it will distract from your line. If you are competing in Latin or rhythm dance, wear either a short dress or skirt with a flippy hem and a high leg slit. In Latin and rhythm dance, your arms should be bare so that the judges can better see your arm movements.
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Wear flesh tone dance tights or stockings as close to your skin color as possible. They should be sandal foot and sheer to the waist because your stockings will show when you twirl. For Latin dance, you can wear fishnet tights. Men should wear a white shirt and a necktie or bow tie. You can choose to wear regular street clothes but dance clothes give you more flexibility. For Latin dance, you should wear a Latin shirt or a dance shirt.
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Wear dance trunks, or briefs, especially if you are doing Latin dance because the audience will see under your dress.
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Wear dance shoes or heeled sandals. Dance shoes start at $40 and look great and they don't hurt your feet. Men’s shoes should have leather, suede or synthetic soles. Do not wear rubber bottom shoes. Men should also consider specialty dance shoes.
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Wear your hair in a secure bun, if you have long hair, with every hair in place. Use lots of hair spray and bobby pins if you're dealing with long hair. Wear a lot more makeup than you normally would.
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Tips & Warnings
You will be looked at from a distance and possibly under stage lights. For this reason, you will want to dress brighter than you normally would and wear more makeup because the lights will wash you out.
Avoid accessories because they can fall off and create problems. Avoid clothing featuring dots and tiny details because they will not look good from a distance or under stage lights.
Resources
- Photo Credit Creative Commons image by flickr member Jim Moore
