Picture Day

Hey everyone! June is just around the corner, and we all know what that means (or maybe we don't)! Recitals and spring shows are just a month or so away. With recitals comes pictures, dress rehearsals, and, of course, last minute problems that seem like a catastrophe.


Today I have dance pictures for my teen ballet studio. For anyone who hasn't ever had dance pictures, it's just like getting a school picture taken, but you're in a dance costume inside of a dance studio. We are allowed to wear our hair anyway, because as my dance teacher says, "Hey, it's your picture." I think I'll go for the standard bun though, because it's how I always wear my hair for dance.


Here are just some tips I learned at my pictures last year. 


1. Show up early! Most likely, something will go wrong. That's just the way things work, you know? Last year I forgot the hair piece we were using, which was like a ribbon, and had to get my mom to speed to the studio to bring it to me.

2. Blend makeup well! If you don't have naturally perfect skin and decide to wear makeup, make sure you blend it into your neck, and even around your chesy as well. My picture last year looked really weird because my face was tanner then my neck and chest. I like to wear foundation, translucent oil control powder, mascara, very subtle lipstick or tinted chapstick, and a tiny bit of natural looking eyeshadow. If your dance routine includes crazy makeup, wear it like you would for the recital.

3. Take off your nail polish! I painted my nails last night, two coats of pink and a clear coat on top, and as they were drying I thought, "Oh, I have pictures tomorrow. Shoot." In about 5 minutes I'll be removing every last bit of polish. Clear coats and french manicures are fine for pictures.

4. Remember that a picture only takes a second to take. You can adjust anything so it will sit right, even if only for a second or two. A girl in my class has dark skin, and our costumes have tan straps that are supposed to blend in.  Since they stand out a bit on her, she's just tucking them into the costume and taking the picture. It won't work for the recital, the costume would just fall right off, but in a picture it's fine.

I have to go get my picture taken now, Happy Dancing!


Edit: Hey guys, I just got home from pictures. For my individual picture they had me in fourth on releve with one high arm and one in like a curved second. For the group picture they had me kick my leg up in arabesque, since I'm the only one in my class that's really strong enough to do that, and my line is usually ok. The photographer counted off (3, 2, 1, go!) and I would lift my leg into the highest arabesque possible, which is only about 90 degrees. One other girl was in the back with me, but she was doing 4th releve, and there were two girls in front, one girl kind of sat with one leg out and one leg under her, and the other did a kneeling position with one leg out.