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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:

Are you as ready as we are to kick off the next season? We know this time often begins with camp - a whole chunk of time dedicated to team bonding and bringing everyone together! It's the first time you get to show off your team to the world, so style and passion are a must! And camp tops have become an essential for sporting team spirit. So, how can you get the most out of your campwear investment, especially when budgets are always tight? Here are a few tips that prove a little extra planning and time could potentially save yourself some money and stress later! Read on to see how to make the most out of your dance camp apparel:

This past weekend, college dance teams from all over the country came together in Daytona, Florida to compete at the NDA Collegiate Dance Championship, and man, it was a show!

We were so proud to have outfitted many of the extraordinary teams who danced their hearts out at Peabody Auditorium and The Bandshell. The costumes were eye-catching and we loved seeing them in action!

The Varsity Team in their new warm ups

We had a hunch there was something special about Watertown, Wisconsin. Especially when last spring Watertown Blue Revue ordered over 140 warm up jackets for youth dancers, parents, coaches and the Varsity Dance Team! We couldn’t help but wonder what is behind that much team spirit? So when Watertown High School won the Wisconsin Division 1 High Kick Championship this year, we knew it had to be a huge accomplishment for the team and their community. 

This past weekend, dance teams from across Minnesota came together at the Target Center in Minneapolis, ready to compete in the Minnesota State High School League (MHDSL) Dance Team championship! On Friday, 36 high school teams competed in the jazz category, and the following day 36 teams (some the same, some new!) were ready to take on the high kick category. We are so proud of our many customers that competed this weekend at State!

 

Competition season has reached the height of excitement the past couple of weeks. With so many state and national competitions, we can hardly keep up with all of the amazing performances! Wisconsin held it's 2016 WACPC State Dance Championships last weekend, and these ladies KNOW how to do costumes! Bright hues, bold color changes, and rhinestones galore!

Check out a few of the teams we were proud to have outfitted with their #LineUpLook:

De Pere - Pom

All About Dance (AAD) is proud to be a part of Chicago's thriving dance community, and is a studio passionate about what they do. They focus on hard work, but above all they strive to create a warm and loving community for their dancers. They are a family, first and foremost. And we, at The Line Up, were honored to have the opportunity to work with them for the first time this year.

AAD came to us from Jen Kopka, the Company Director. Jen had worked with us before at her previous studio, and when she moved to AAD we were excited to hear she wanted to continue working with us! We asked her a few questions about her new studio and the costume process and loved what she had to say! Take a look:

Congratulations to all of the phenomenal North Dakota high school dance teams, who finished their competition season at NDADD's State last month. We always love seeing what our ND teams bring for costume inspiration. One trend you guys always know how to rock: amazing, stand out unitards!

Here are some action photos from the event! Congrats, ladies!