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Planning the new upcoming dance season is SO exciting!  Many times this means designing a new costume, which means a design consultation with your dance costume design company. You will likely be getting a lot of information out of this design consultation- but how can you prepare beforehand? Find out here!

Behind the scenes at one of our recent photo shoots at Steve Lucas Photography

Once fall rolls around, we know the first thing on the to-do list as a newly formed dance team is pictures!  When it comes to photoshoots, TLU has definitely had lots of practice.  With over 8 photoshoots a year, we've got things down to a science!  

And we don't do it alone either!  With a little help from the experts below, we've compiled some of our best tips for getting your best photos as a dance team. Read on to hear what the experts have to say.

• Pam Gleason - Our photoshoot choreographer, Pam, is a master at creative posing!  When not working at The Line Up, she's also an instructor at Dance Arts Centre and co-founder of Matrixx Pro.

• Steve Lucas - We've been working with Steve Lucas Photography for over 10 years, and with his 20+ years of experience, he has perfected the art of capturing the perfect dance action shot!  

• Dawn Ruschmeyer - Our resident photo editor and Photoshop Wizard, Dawn is also Steve Lucas's assistant and photo editor.

 Costume fit model Taylor tries on a new outfit before it hits the hip hop catalog.

We have a small but important rule here at The Line Up: every sample garment that leaves the building MUST be tried on.

Every day at 1pm sharp, you can find our team at Fit Session, where a costume fit model tries on all of our new designs.  Whether its a custom design for a client or new product going up on our store, we like to make sure every pattern is right and fits a REAL body. Putting it on a mannequin is helpful, but a real body is best in order to move and dance in it as intended!

This leads to one very unique job at The Line Up: a Fit Model.  These ladies are our real life, size small mannequins, and often get poked and prodded as they test out all our sample garments.  

We sat down with Pam and Taylor, our past and present fit models, for our new employee spotlight series. Check out what they had to say about their highly unusual but very important job!

We're back again with Anna and Carsen of TRIBE 99, getting a feel for what it's like to have a career as a dance team choreographer!  Earlier, they shared how TRIBE 99 got started and what makes their brand unique.  Today, we're talking about what it's like to go to Nationals with a team, and their best advice for those competing!  Take a peek:

Have you ever wondered what it's like to choreograph for some of the top dance teams in the nation?   We asked our friends Anna and Carsen from TRIBE 99 to tell us more about how they got started with their careers in dance!  Check out our Q&A with these talented ladies for a behind the scenes peek!

We've worked with the University of St. Thomas Dance Team (USTDT) for a while now, and it's always exciting to see what inspiration they bring us each summer! From elegant to edgy, the team always seems to fully bring their chosen theme to life. This year was no exception!

Finding Inspiration

USTDT found inspiration for their jazz routine from one very strong woman: Ronda Rousey. Rousey - an American mixed martial artist, UFC Champion, and Judo Olympian - was ranked the most "dominant" active athlete in 2015, man or woman. The team connected with her story of strength and pride, rise against the odds, and female empowerment. Their goal for their 2015-2016 season? Push the limits, just like Rousey, and have a routine & costume they hadn't seen before.

Ever wonder what pro teams consider when designing a new uniform? Tina, director of the Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders, had a few things in mind when she came to The Line Up needing a fresh, new look for her team. The ladies had been wearing the same uniform from The Line Up for several years, and were long overdue for something new and innovative!

Changing their look was serious business, and the process took well over a year! Many pro teams want to ensure their uniform is unique to their team brand, to create their own "signature" look. Designing the Raven's uniform was a collaborative effort that involved a lot of discussion about goals, several design iterations, a couple different sample garments, approval from the Raven’s organization, and numerous tweaks along the way!

So, how did they make it happen? Here's a sneak peek behind the design process:

This year, Ice & Blades Figure Skating club president, Joyce, wanted her skaters "to feel and train like athletes, so they need to look like athletes." She went on to say that she wants to have a more unified team exuding TONS of team pride. Her solution? Warm-ups to give the Ice & Blades a unified look. Keeping her intent in mind, The Line Up designers were up for the challenge of designing warm ups for the skaters!

When the Timberwolves Dancers' coach Athenia came to us looking for a new design for this season, we were eager to help create a fresh, new look! Her vision came to life in a hooded dress, uniquely accented with a pattern created out of the Wolves' logo.

Going a different direction on a dance, costume and theme is a risk many teams take. This past year, the University of St. Thomas Dance Team (located in Minnesota, not the island) took a major risk with a one song, Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z "Holy Grail" routine at the 2015 UDA College National Championship and it paid off! We were eager to bring their costume vision to life and match the "JT swag" they were going for.