Dress Code
At Clarion Center for the Arts, we are committed to helping our students develop both discipline and a life-long love for the arts. To accomplish this goal, we must balance both structure and fun! Having a specified dress code for our classes stimulates the focus our students need to succeed while freeing them up to be creative through dance and acting rather than fashion.
Theatre Attire
Our dress code for our Theatre classes is simple... wear all black! Unified dress attire requirements allows us to create a blank canvas for each class and a professional training environment. Thanks you for helping us create structure that will allow us to accomplish more with our students!
All theatre students need...
Black shirt, hoodie or jacket
Black pants, leggings or shorts
Black socks or bare feet
Black headbands and scrunchies when applicable
Longer hair should be pulled up away from the face and off of the neck.
Dance/Circus Attire
Please note... no underwear should be worn with leotards and tights! Just like swimsuits, these items have built in linings. Underwear can be seen hanging out at the bottoms of leotards, so please make sure they aren't worn to class!
Here are the items that our Toddler, Preschool, Petite and Primary students need:
Here are the dress code requirements for our Principal, Junior and Senior levels of dance:
Finally, here is what our Acrobats and our Boys need for class:
*NOTE: As boys progress through our programs, they will be asked to wear tighter fitting shirts and pants. Boys who reach an advanced level of dancing will be asked to wear a men's leotard, tights and dance belt.
To ensure proper quality and color, all dance attire should be purchased from reputable dance stores. The cheaper items at places like Walmart are also of cheaper quality, tear more easily and are often not the correct shade.
Where to Purchase Dance Attire
At the Dancer's Shop on Main Street in Clarion
Through our Office
Discount Dance website (Use our Teacher ID: 73570 for a 5% discount!)
Any retail store that exclusively sells dance attire
How to Care for your Dance Attire
Only wear your dance shoes in the Studio! Wearing them outside or on non-dance floors can mess up your shoes. And if your shoes are messed up they can damage our dance floors, too!
Be sure to wash your leotards and tights on a gentle cycle and hang them up to dry! They'll shrink if you put them in the dryer.
Label all of your belongings and keep dance related items in a designated dance bag!
What if your shoes are a bit too tight?
Dance shoes are supposed to be snug, but while you may not be ready for the next size up, there are some things you can do to stretch out your current shoes and make them more comfortable.
Put plastic bags with water in the toe of each shoe, and freeze the shoes with the bags in them. As the water freezes, it will expand in the bag and will stretch the shoe.
Spray rubbing alcohol on the inside of the parts of the shoe that are a bit uncomfortable. The alcohol will soften the shoe without damaging it and the shoe will stretch to fit your foot as you wear them.
Heat the inside of the shoe with a hair dryer before wearing. Wear them for a few minutes with thick wool socks. The heat and the pressure of the socks will help the shoes to stretch quickly.
If your big toe isn't hitting the front of the shoe, but the shoe is rubbing against the sides, try these tactics before resorting to getting a shoe that's too big and may fly off in the middle of dancing!
Hair Requirements
For all classes, hair should be pulled up off of the neck and out of the face into a tightly secured dance bun with loose ends pinned and sprayed down. Click on the links below to view some helpful video tutorials for putting your child's hair in a bun!
Whatever you do, don't forget the hair pins! The hair pins are the most important piece to holding the bun together during class. You can get all of these supplies at Walmart, Amazon, Dollar Tree or anywhere that sells common hair supplies!
If your child’s hair is too short for a bun, please use hair ties, bobby pins and barrettes to pull the hair back completely away from the face and off of the neck as much as possible!
Thank you for supporting our vision for structured fun and helping us create an environment where students (and teachers!) are free to focus on dance rather than fashion. It may not always be convenient to find solid color leotards or make sure your child's hair is in a bun, but the discipline kids gain through dress attire requirements goes a long way in helping them grow stronger minds, bodies, spirits and emotions through dance!
If at any point you need help getting the correct items or learning how to do your child's hair, please reach out to a Teacher or the Office. We're happy to assist you every step of the way!
