Contemporary Dance Wear: Choosing Comfortable Lyrical Dance Clothes

What Are the 4 Types of Contemporary Dance?

As you may know, contemporary dance combines innovative dance movements, styles and techniques of the four types of dances – jazz, modern dance, classical ballet and lyrical dance. While the first three are quite common and popular, a lot of people feel confused when someone mentions lyrical dance. Lyrical dance is a captivating and extremely scenic type of dance that represents a combination of ballet and jazz. 

It’s a dance through which the dancer shows off strong emotions and physical movements, leaving you breathless. It’s all about incorporating techniques with fluid and expressive motions at the same time. Given the fact that this dance is a combination of jazz, ballet, modern and contemporary dances as well, different kinds of music are allowed. Aside from classical ballet, you can even dance to hip-hop; it’s all up to you and your needs.

Tips for Choosing the Right Clothes

Just like any other type of dance, this one also requires the use of some specific dance clothes. The lyrical contemporary dance costumes allow for great flexibility without compromising your movement, style and appearance. The choice of lyrical contemporary costumes is huge, ranging in types, size, colour, material and pattern. But, in order to choose the right one, you need to take into account some important things.

Consider Your Freedom of Movement

Given the fact that this dance is all about incorporating fluid movements while expressing emotions and feelings, it’s of vital importance to find appropriate contemporary dance costumes that will allow you to move freely. Aside from choosing the right-fitted ones, you should also pay attention to the chosen materials. Just make sure that they are made from lightweight and stretchy ones to ensure you feel comfortable and confident as you move.

Be Open to Try Different Costumes

Since lyrical contemporary dance is all about moving and showing your body, practice shows that choosing one-piece costumes is always a better idea. That is because you won’t be able to fix your attire anytime you make a sudden movement. However, if choosing costumes for exercising or for kids, you can always experiment and try something new, like a top and a skirt. 

You can also pair a leotard with a skirt or any other type of top. Just make sure the skirt is made from light and flowy material for ease of movement. The choice of skirt models and types is huge, giving you the chance to choose from short flowing skirts to asymmetrical midi skirts. Dancing in costume with briefs and a leotard isn’t strange at all, but be sure the chosen model is more scenic and appealing. 

The basic ones can look too ordinary, and if worn on their own without any eye-catching detail, the entire dance might look basic and even boring. In the end, everything counts when performing, the whole ensemble as much as your movements and techniques, so making sure you give your best in terms of both dancing and appearance is key to becoming successful.

Choose Flattering Costumes

One of the biggest mistakes people make is choosing something only because they like its appearance. The truth is that you should choose a costume that’s well-fitted, of course, but more importantly, one that will flatter your body. You should certainly avoid the ‘one size fits all’ costume since every dancer’s body and size are different. In order to feel free and light when dancing, you should opt for the right costume size. 

Try different costumes, different styles and materials as this is the only way to see which one flatters your body the most. The chosen costume should flatter all the right angles of your body, making you look gorgeous when dancing. In the end, the overall dance movements are captivating, and the costumes can certainly contribute more to creating that divine and breathtaking view.

Don’t Forget about the Details

While the costume’s type, style and colour matter, you really shouldn’t forget about its details. Quite often, these details come in the form of sequins and rhinestones added to the fabric, but it isn’t strange to see a dance costume adorned with specific materials like satin and lace for achieving a more eye-catching look. 

A Final Word

Creating visual appeal is a part of this dance, so when in the search for an appealing performance dance, don’t forget to consider all the needed details. And lastly, don’t forget about the tights and shoes. They also play a huge role in the overall look, so make sure they match your costume and dance. Speaking of tights, don’t be surprised seeing ones adorned with rhinestones or some other embellishments. 

Practice shows that such tights are quite commonly used in this dance, so instead of choosing a costume with such embellishments, you can choose tights. This will allow you to wear the costume in different performances without being too much. In the end, it’s all about leaving a good impression, and this cannot be achieved solely with dance.