Blog

Whether you dance in a studio, on a football field, or on a gym floor, odds are you are working hard to plan for your competition season. One key element to any performance is, of course, the Score Card. While every competition has different scoring standards, there are several aspects of competition dance that are consistent across the board. Take a look at these six common mistakes that will zap your dance competition score and decide for yourself if they apply to your team!

When it comes to dance costumes for team Hip hop routines, the style is easily many dancers' favorite, perhaps because hip hop costumes are mostly street style!  Edgy and accessible, it's easy to pull off-the-rack styles for your performance.  Looking for a little inspiration for your upcoming hip hop performance?  Here are some hip hop dance costume looks we've seen trending, plus a few bonus dance videos of these looks in action!

We know that costume planning can be overwhelming! You want to find the perfect look for your team while still staying within budget. Sometimes staying within budget means you have to sacrifice finding a look that’s unique for your team, right? Wrong! Don’t sacrifice your style! Instead, find ways you can create your own look with existing styles by simply changing the fabric color!

Western Michigan Dancers reordered their 2015 gameday top (left) in 2016 (right).  Photo credit: WMU Dance Team.

A new season means new team members - Yeah!!  What are they going to wear? If you're like many teams on a budget, you're likely going to re-use last year's dance costumes, but will need to order a few more. Maybe you need a few more of a popular size. Or you just accepted more members than the year before. Either way, a good costume company will be able to help accommodate your dance costume re-order needs!

Here are 6 tips on planning for your next uniform reorder:

Selecting the right costume is vital to a great performance. When your team looks great, they perform great! So where do you start?  With so many dance costumes to choose from, finding the right look can feel daunting! 

Don't stress though!  To help with the selection process, we’ve assembled a list of the top dancewear companies and categorized them by their specialties.  When narrowing down the list for your team, consider two key things to make the selection process easier:

• Be clear about what you are looking for and why. Example:  If you have a team that has special sizing needs, select a company that offers custom fitting services.
• Know the differences. No two dance costume companies are the same! Select companies that best meet your needs.

Read on for a list of over 25 tried and true dance costume companies to get you started!    

Style Raelyn Dress

Last week we took a look at the top dance costume trends for Jazz, and this week we'll continue the list with Lyrical and Contemporary!  Here are the design trends we predict will be shaping dance team performances for the 2017 season!

It's an exciting time as college and high school dance teams are coming back from camp, schools and studios are back in session, and routines are conceptualized!  Looking for a little  inspiration as you plan for your next season?  We pulled together some of the favorite jazz dance costume trends for 2017 - check 'em out!

For fifteen plus years, Dance Arts Centre (DAC) has come to us to help design their elegant dance costumes for the competition stage. They're innovative costumes and loyalty to The Line Up has created a wonderful relationship!

How many lives can your dance or skate costume live?  Plenty, if you play it right!  Wearing the same costume 2 years in a row is an excellent way to save money, but have you ever thought of selling your team's digs to another group?  

The University of St. Thomas Dance Team (USTDT) did just that with their 2013-2014 jazz costume, which then went on to be sold again!  After wearing their Jazz costume at UDA Nationals, USTDT sold thier costume to Chaska Dance Team who wore it for a year.  Then, Chaska passed it on to Duluth Denefeld Dance Team, who became the third team to wear this trend setting outfit, taking it all the way to the Minnesota State Dance Team Championships in 2016.  What a testiment to quality and conservation (though we don't really want to get a whiff of those babies!).  

Dance Space's Lyrical Senior Team

One Team’s Strength

The Dance Space studio recently shared with us photos and video of their stunning custom dance costume and lyrical performance at competition!  This group’s lyrical dance titled “My Strength” really imbibes the core values of their team: strength and determination.  The team endured many injuries and formation changes throughout the year, yet the dancers rose to the challenge, ultimately placing 3^rd overall as a Small Group during their season!