Dance School Bag
Learn what you should keep handy in your dance school bag with Mrs. Mary!
What to Keep in Your Dance School Bag
- contributed by Mary S.
(00:06): Hey there LAAPA, it's Miss Mary here with another lagniappe lesson. And now it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for, what is in Miss Mary's dance bag. So this will be kind of a funny opportunity for you to see all of the stuff I have to carry around, but also hopefully a lesson of what you should have in your own dance bag so you can be a successful dance student. Here we go. I have not looked in this bag in a while and just a warning, this is only my bag that I bring to and from classes, I have another giant duffle bag at home with even more dance stuff.
(00:41): So at the very top, we have my brand new tap shoes that I got for Christmas, and I wore those last night. So they're at the top of my bag. Then we have ballet slippers, all of my different shoes. So we're going to go through the shoes first. Now normally you don't have to bring every single dance style of shoe you have in your normal class bag, unless it's for an audition. But since I teach these styles every week, I just always have them with me. So here are my jazz shoes and then, oh, so much fun. This is my very first pair of pointe shoes. Now, obviously I don't dance in these anymore because they're very broken in. Or as we say in the dance world, they're dead. But I like to carry them with me to show my young dancers, to show them what they're working towards. And also, so they could see what hard work looks like because as you could see, it's not pretty, they're not pretty pointe shoes that you see in pictures. They're stained, there's lipstick smudges on here and darning and old ribbons. And I think there's some blood on here, but this is what hard work and love looks like.
(01:59): Many, many, many Therabands for all of my foot exercises and strengthening exercises. And for our strength and conditioning class, you need a Theraband. These are very helpful to have, so each color is a different level of resistance and thickness. So my Therabands. Let's see, what else do we have in here? Oh my goodness, very many skirts. I love skirts, this is the most fun accessory in the ballet world because we all have to wear a black leotard pink tights, but you can express yourself through a fun, colorful skirt. So I have different skirts for different occasions, different moods, red ones, butterfly ones. And the great thing about a nice wrap skirt is you can have it forever. I think I've had this one since I was about 13 and it's still good.
(02:55): And I still wear it all the time. And then my classic black teacher wrap skirt for the more professional occasions. Ooh, and now it's time for our warmups. These are very important to have in your bags to prevent injuries. So I have three different kinds. I have my leg warmers that go over my calves and ankles and there's a little hole for my heel and for my toe, I wear these the most. Then in the winter time where it's really cold, I get a sore back. So I actually had a friend make this for me. I just wrap it around my lower back and it keeps it warm before a class. And then we have the full hip back and leg warmers that I can just slip over a pair of tights and leotard and they're nice and warm. And they're also great to wear backstage before a performance. So lots of warmups to keep your body warm and ready to move.
(03:53): Then we have our different balls to massage out your sore muscles. So I use the tennis ball for my calves, for the inside of my leg. I just roll it out. And then I use the golf ball for the bottom of my foot because I feel like it gets in those little divots in your foot a little bit better. So these are great to have to just roll out your sore muscles before class. And then at each studio, we also have a big, long film roller that you can roll out your IT bands and thighs before or after class. All right and there's still more, we're still going. Here are all of my books for choreography. Are you ready? Let's count. Four notebooks filled with dance, choreography and lesson planning. These are gold.
(04:47): I never throw a choreography book away because you never know when you want to revisit it. Sometimes they can't translate my own writing and it takes the help of a lesson mate video, but they're still good to have. Then we have in these zipper pockets, ooh, of course our first aid kit. So with bandaids, tape, Neosporin, needle and thread, if I need to mend a ballet slipper or sew a pointe shoe or a leotard, my no slip spray, you just spray on the bottom of your shoes. And then these are really fun. And I forgot these were in here, my castanets. So I used to take a character dance class and we had to learn how to play castanets while we were dancing and spinning around the room. So I forgot these were in here. That brings back really great memories and that's hilarious.
(05:49): And then we have our book of ballet stories that I've been reading to our pre ballet students. Currently we've been reading, Sleeping Beauty, and I'm really hoping that's close to the end. Lots of pens and pencils. Oh, and of course my absolute favorite. These are dance compression socks, Apolla shocks, love these. They've been really helping with my sore feet and ankles when I dance because it helps with the recirculation of my feet. But I think that's everything. And yeah, I would definitely recommend having all of your dance shoes that you need for the week in your bag at all times. Some tennis balls or golf balls to roll out your sore muscles, warm ups, leg warmers, fun skirts, things that make you smile and then a dance notebook so you can take notes during class, after class, before class and that's everything I have in my dance bag. Thanks for watching. See you next time in class 15 minutes early. Don't be late.