MVMNT Issue 1

MVMNT

DECEMBER 2023 | ISSUE 1

Why Dancers Wear What They Wear

Classical Dancewear in a Modern Era Dancers’ Favorite Pieces The Impact of Mood Winter Layering Across All Styles

Lauren Shaul

MAGAZINE

IN THIS ISSUE 5

Letter from the Editor: Why Dancers Wear What They Wear

7

Threads of Time: Navigating Classical Dancewear in a Modern Era

9

A Few of My Favorite Things

11

Mood Ring

13

Winter Layering

15

Studio Style Then & Now

1 Photograph by Lareina J Wong, Courtesy of Sara Silkin

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

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.

Lauren Shaul Editor-in-Chief 3

THREADS OF TIME

Navigating Classical Dancewear in a Modern Era

By Lauren Shaul

9

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.

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”.

“IT SORT OF SHATTERED MY IDEALISM AROUND WHAT THE DANCE WORLD COULD BE VERSUS WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS” 10 Hannah Lipman | Courtesy of Hannah Lipman

A FEW OF MY

Favorite Things Fit, feel, and aesthetics dictate dancers’ favorite items to wear

Photograph via Instagram @rubiawear

By Lauren Shaul| Photography provided by dancers 5

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.

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

4

Fit & Feel

Shades of Blue

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

6

Mood RING

By Lauren Shaul

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. 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”.

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Photograph by Andreas Heumann

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. .

Photograph by Erin Vonder Haar

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

Join the Club Shop The Prima Club Online

Photographs courtesy of Camille Goldsborough

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.

Erin Vonder Haar Commercial Freelancer

By Lauren Shaul Photography provided by dancers 11

4

Soft & Cozy

Luna Weintraub Dancer

Kate Zipper Contemporary/Fusion Dancer

Kentaro Shiozawa Professional Ballet Dancer

Overall All Over

12

Just Roll With It

BIENCATON

Inspired by and for dancers

Photo by Irene Occhiato

Chunky Knits SLEEK SILHOUETTES

Studio Style THEN & NOW

LAYERS ON LAYERS

Proportion

“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