MVMNT Magazine: Why Dancers Wear What They Wear

1. Why Dancers
Wear What
They Wear
Lauren Shaul
Winter Layering Across
All Styles
Dancers’ Favorite
Pieces
Classical Dancewear in
a Modern Era
MVMNT
DECEMBER 2023 | ISSUE 1 MAGAZINE
The Impact of Mood

2. IN THIS ISSUE
Letter from the Editor: Why Dancers Wear What
They Wear
5
1
Threads of Time: Navigating Classical Dancewear in a
Modern Era
7
9
11
13
A Few of My Favorite Things
Mood Ring
Studio Style Then & Now
15
Winter Layering
Photograph by Lareina J Wong, Courtesy of Sara Silkin

3. Letter from the Editor
Surely there must be an intention behind the wearing
of one leg warmer, a rolled pant leg, basketball shorts
over track pants, or a cut T-shirt draped over the right
shoulder but never the left. Certainly there is
reasoning for why Joffrey Ballet dancers pull on long
rehearsal skirts and Miami City Ballet opts for the
short mini; why Chicago contemporary dancers don
sleek minimalist shapes, and Portland dancers slip on
long, feminine silks. Jonathan Marion wrote in
Ballroom: Culture and Costume in Competitive Dance
“[b]eing seen as a particular type of dancer informs
being a particular type of dancer”, and all dancers
want to do is be seen.
In my former professional experience, I was very
aware of the intentional and thoughtful process in
dressing myself for class and rehearsal. That process
was usually fraught with my mercurial body image,
who was teaching class that day, and what rehearsals I
had scheduled. I became curious as to whether other
dancers also experienced this mindful process, and
which larger social factors influence what dancers
wear. In this issue we explore why dancers wear what
they wear to the studio, in their daily dancing lives.
“BEING SEEN AS A
PARTICULAR TYPE OF
DANCER INFORMS BEING A
PARTICULAR TYPE OF
DANCER”
-JONATHAN MARION
Editor-in-Chief
Lauren Shaul
3
To navigate this question, I poured over various books (such as the one quoted previously) and archival
articles on dancer dress. Several dancers across all styles of dance were also interviewed and surveyed on the
subject. I asked them to describe their thought process in dressing themselves, who or what influences their
decisions, if they have freedom to choose their dancewear, if their dancewear reflects their personal identity, and
if the relative importance of their dancewear affects them physically and emotionally. Their responses,
combined with my research, developed the content of this issue. Readers will discover the intricacies behind
current dancewear in traditional dance environments, what makes a piece of dancewear special and favorable,
and much more.
The answer to the question posed in this issue appears to lie in the intersection between self expression and
function. Dancers yearn to express their creativity and individuality as artists, while maintaining their identity as
a member of a certain dance genre. Their membership entails the necessity of dressing in a way that allows for
freedom of movement particular to the style. Different genres of dance act as cultures, with their own sets of
values, beliefs, and attitudes that add layers of meaning and associations for dancers and their dress. As readers
will discover in this issue, the process of dressing to dance is much more involved than throwing on tights and a
leotard, or rolling up a straight pant leg.

4. By Lauren Shaul
THERE IS TENSION BETWEEN BALLET’S
TRADITIONAL DANCE FORM AND
MODERN FASHION.
Ballet’s stifling nature often causes dancers to seek self
expression and rebellion through dress, by contradicting
the conventional ballet attire. Hannah Lipman, former
professional dancer and current Columbia student, notes
these micro rebellions are “a way for people to feel current
in an art form that’s anything but. That it’s contingent upon
an art for that’s like, archaic”.
Lipman rejected the customary uniform: dangly earrings
with a French twist, one legwarmer, the “girly sentiment of
making yourself appealing...and feminine in an unkempt
way”. It wasn’t until a company dancer and artistic director
commented about her appearance, that she felt pressured
to dress a certain way to advance her career. She exclaimed
that she didn’t completely change her style in response, and
the whole experience was disheartening. “That was also a
really disappointing occurrence for me because it sort of
shattered my idealism around what the dance world could
be versus what is actually is”. It’s a striking moment to
realize the culture you’re in is rigidly archaic against the
larger contemporary world.
9
THREADS
OF TIME
Navigating
Classical
Dancewear
inaModern
Era

5. Another contributor to the tension is modern society’s
growing acceptance of fluid gender dress. Many of ballet’s
larger institutions, which drive the expectations and values
of ballet culture have yet to accept fluid gender dress at
the same rate. Kentaro Shiozawa, a nonbinary professional
ballet dancer, notes that ballet is still a largely gendered
art form. While their company has a relatively open
environment, they feel hesitant to wear certain forms of
dancewear. “I don’t necessarily always feel comfortable
wearing just a leotard to the studio. I really thought about
it, like what if I just wore a skirt? But I’m always hesitant
to know, how will that be perceived by my director, other
peers, or teachers? I don’t know if they would be
offended or upset to see me dressing in a more
androgynous or feminine way”. Despite that, they still find
ways to experiment with their dress and self expression in
the studio. “I’ve been playing around with wearing dangly
earrings and wearing colors and cuts of unitards that are
not necessarily considered ‘masculine’”.
Both Shiozawa and Annie Freeman, a nonbinary
freelance ballet dancer, euphemize ballet as drag when
they have to dress in a way that conflicts with their gender
expression. Traditionally, ballet expects female dancers to
wear various forms of skirts and male dancers to wear full
length tights and a tunic. For Freeman, wearing a skirt is
frustrating and annoying. “I’d rather be able to dress for
how I’m feeling that day. But some days it’s like, okay,
well now I have to go to this rehearsal. I have to be a
girl...I’m in drag today”. Ballet’s rigid structure and
classification of traditional gender roles inhibits dancers
from freely dressing as their identified gender, and
therefore inhibits their self expression.
Since ballet dancers are modern beings operating in a
modern world outside the studio, how do they contend
with classic dress in an ever-evolving world? It appears to
be through small, but powerful means of rebellion.
“Maybe it’s like a means of self fashioning?”, muses
Lipman. “Even in the smallest means of rebellion, do we
try to modernize it? Even at the lowest rungs of power?
As dancers we’re still trying to regain some kind of agency
just in the ways that we dress ourselves”.
10
“IT SORT OF SHATTERED MY IDEALISM
AROUND WHAT THE DANCE WORLD COULD
BE VERSUS WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS”
Hannah Lipman | Courtesy of Hannah Lipman

6. Fit, feel, and aesthetics dictate dancers’ favorite items to wear
5
By Lauren Shaul| Photography provided by dancers
A FEW OF MY
FavoriteThings
Photograph via Instagram @rubiawear

7. Monochromatic
I have these Aerie pants in green and black, like each
pair in their own solid colors. And the way I hemmed
them gives them a little bit of weight. They’re cotton
linen blend, so I like how it wrinkles. And I like how
they’re soft, so when I’m on the floor, they’re not too
slippery but they do catch my weight nicely. Whenever
I wear those green ones I always wear a tight green
top or black with black, because you can have a
monochromatic moment. I definitely prefer to keep it
monochromatic.
4
Sophia Stefanopoulos
Freelance Dancer
Cut Just Right
I have these tights that cut-off just
above the knee, and I like the way
that the cut makes my legs look. I
have several colors like
evergreen, brown, maroon, purple,
and blue. I always wear tights of
that style because they make me
feel like my legs look longer and
not too exposed.
Kentaro Shiozawa
Professional Ballet
Dancer

8. 6
Right now I really like my blue basketball shorts. And
big T-shirts, I have like go-to T-shirts that I wear for
barre because they’re just a good fit. I wear my lucky
dragon shirt for stage class before every single
opening night.
My favorite look is a lot of blues. I love wearing blue,
like dark blue. But specifically, I have a dark blue
leotard, a dark blue skirt. And I own a lot of other
blues, like blue vests, blue booties, and a blue water
bottle.
Annie Freeman
Freelance Ballet Dancer
Yumi Kanazawa
Professional Ballet Dancer
Fit & Feel Shades of Blue

9. By Lauren Shaul
Yumi Kanazawa, ballet dancer with the Joffrey
Ballet, exclaims that mood is the first to influence her
dancewear pairing. “The style of leotard, the color,
the color of the skirt... if I want to wear darker colors
that day or lighter colors, long sleeve, short sleeve, no
sleeve...”.
Beyond color and structure, clothing chosen
dependent on mood can also serve as a mechanism to
hide the body. Dancers will intentionally choose
pieces that hide insecure parts of their body,
particularly if their mood is influenced by their body
image du jour. “I lean towards hiding the parts that I
don’t like,” Yumi mentions. “I don’t actually love the
look of long black tights on me. I don’t really know
what it is but I just don’t feel like I look my best and
sometimes that’s just in your head. I don’t actually
know if that’s my reality, but it doesn’t make me feel
as good”.
Mood
RING
FEELING BLUE TODAY? MOST DANCERS
STATE THAT THEIR MOOD AFFECTS
WHAT THEY WEAR TO CLASS AND
REHEARSAL, AND VICE VERSA. PRIOR
TO DRESSING, DANCERS NOT ONLY
ASSESS THEIR SCHEDULES FOR THE
DAY, BUT ALSO HOW THEY FEEL OR
WANT TO FEEL.
13
Photograph by Andreas Heumann

10. Erin Vonder Haar, a commercial dancer, echoes this
sentiment. “If I’m not vibing with what my body is
looking like today, them I’m going to be like, okay,
I’m putting on something baggy. But then there’s
other times where I’m like, I’m going to be on my
technique today. And I’m going to wear the leggings
and the leo, and we’re gonna see all the lines. I guess
it just depends on how I’m feeling”.
Dancewear can also create a mood, like instilling
confidence to perform one’s best. Confidence is
perhaps the most sought-after emotion that dancers
strive to attain. “Feeling confident is one of the most
important things, especially when you’re dancing,”
says Kate Zipper, a Chicago-based fusion dancer.
“Because you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and
you’re always being told to ‘do this better’”.
Dancewear has the ability to boost confidence and
uplift moods, like wearing bright colors on a gloomy
day or T-shirts with quippy phrases to get through a
slew of long rehearsals.
Whether it be a mood ring barometer for a dancer’s
state of mind or serve as an aspirational feeling,
dancewear has the power to influence dancers’
emotions.
.
DANCERS WILL INTENTIONALLY CHOOSE PIECES THAT HIDE INSECURE
PARTS OF THEIR BODY, PARTICULARLY IF THEIR MOOD IS INFLUENCED
BY THEIR BODY IMAGE DU JOUR
14
Photograph by Erin Vonder Haar

11. Join the Club
Shop The Prima Club Online
Photographs courtesy of Camille Goldsborough

12. 11
WINTER
layering
THE COLDER IT GETS, THE MORE
DANCERS PILE ON. ADDING
PIECES DOES MORE THAN THE
FUNCTIONARY ASPECT OF
KEEPING THE BODY WARM;
FROSTY TEMPS ALLOW FOR
PLAYFUL COMBINATIONS AND
ROOM FOR SELF EXPRESSION.
By Lauren Shaul
Photography provided by
dancers
Erin Vonder Haar
Commercial Freelancer

13. 12
4 Soft & Cozy
Kate Zipper
Contemporary/Fusion Dancer
Kentaro
Shiozawa
Professional
Ballet
Dancer
Overall All
Over
Luna Weintraub
Dancer

14. Just Roll With It
BIENCATON
Inspired by and for dancers Photo by Irene Occhiato

15. THEN & NOW
Proportion
Chunky Knits
LAYERS ON
LAYERS
SLEEK
SILHOUETTES
Studio
Style

16. “The thought process
and the practice of
what you wear is
related to or affects
your artistic being, of
being a dancer, or just
calling yourself a
dancer...I just embrace
the freedom”
-Sophia Stefanopoulos
Until next season
MVMNT