Blog

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! 

Totino Grace Dance Team in a custom costume at the 2016 MSHSL Dance Tournament

Come on... admit it... you are already starting to plan for next year’s Winter Dance Team Season! Coaches and dancers alike are gearing up for summer camps and clinics, but thoughts of the Winter Season are always looming as teams brainstorm ideas for the upcoming year.

The check list of items for the competition season is a long one.  One major item on every team’s list?  Costumes, of course!  Wondering how to navigate the sea of rules and regulations as they apply to your dance costume design?  Here's a summary of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Dance costume official rules.  

 

This fall, the University of Minnesota Duluth Dance Team shared their new game day look with us, and we recently caught up with them again after they competed at NDA Championships this month! The team had an amazing performance at college nationals, finishing runner up in Division II Team Performance!

Finding Inspiration in 'Revolution'

UMD Captain Melanie explained the concept behind their routine this season:

"For our dance this year our theme was queen bee, which turned into the concept of 'revolution.' We had the idea of being fierce and confident women. It was incorporated in our choreography and costumes by adding strong, sharp movements and moments where we could feed off of each other's energy. We added in a lot of team breaths to increase the intensity of our jazz section."

"The costumes have a sassy fierce look to them which completely added to our theme! The music was powerful and emphasized all the movements that we wanted to be strong, and it flowed where we wanted it to be smooth," Melanie said.

The combination of feminine lace and and bold back straps on this custom dance costume definitely portrays the fierce and confident female look they were going for!

A little over a week ago, one of our favorite customers, The Louisville Ladybirds, conquered the NDA College Championships with two very big wins: Division 1A Team Performance AND Division 1A Hip Hop. So what inspired this team to totally rule the NDA stage all weekend?  Coach Todd Sharp from the Ladybirds gave us the scoop: