Create the Perfect Christmas Dance Recital Costume For Your Dance Group

Winter wonderland dance recital audiences love to see winter in all its glory portrayed by dance students. For dance recital planners, this can be managed in a variety of ways. Students may already have some of the accessories and trims needed. The favorite of the perfect Christmas dance recital costume for your should include snowy white leotards and filmy white romantic tutus. Add them to a red, green or white accessories and it is an instant start to a Christmas Dance recital costume.

For the ballet students, try going toward a traditional English Christmas color scheme with the use of dark forest greens and lavender pink leotards and tutus. With just a bit of trim or sequins in contrasting colors, this has all the earmarks of a traditional Christmas ballet in the Dickensian style.

Nothing makes a Christmas dance recital like bright costumes bought online. The basics of a truly stunning Christmas dance recital come alive with metallic leotards and catsuits. Go for the gold with a heavenly golden scene. Choose a metallic gold leotard, hot pants and tights or leggings in metallic gold for jazz dance routines. Spritz golden glitter on the face and hair and the costume is complete. Be sure to use contemporary Christmas music for added interest.

Audiences will be thrilled by a Christmas dance recital that uses great Christmas Night Sky accents in silver and deep sapphire blue costumes. This works well for tap, ballet, and jazz and even acrobatic dance routines. Focus on a good lighting schedule for the stage or performance area. It's only a matter of starting with a leotard or catsuit and adding color coordinated tutus or accessories. Choreograph the dance routines to suit the theme of the Christmas Night sky using music that is not predictable. For tap and jazz students this might be blues music and for ballet something from Berlioz or Shostakovich.

If the audience has a special desire for a complete Nutcracker Suite Christmas recital, vary the costumes so that each dance routine appears in a variety of colors in alternating dance sequences within the ballet. Much of Nutcracker Suite costuming is little more than a classic or romantic tutu, white or pink tights and a basic leotard. For the sequences like the Chinese Dance or the Czardas scene, Dance Clothes UK offers a complete line of accessories dance wands and tiara headbands to complete the dance costume.

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Five Tips for Costume Parties

I had a conversation the other day with a customer who wanted some tips on throwing a costumed party, as she had never hosted one herself. Dot (my coworker) and I immediately set into different ideas for themes and why they would work, and it occurred to me that there really are some good costume party themes and some that are... less appreciated by the guests. Believe me, I know, for guests are much more open with their costumer than the host.

1. Good ideas are ones that can work on a variety of levels and complexity. Hollywood Movie Stars is an easy one, as you can twist any costume to fit the theme. That way your guest can find a costume they like, and with a little ingenuity we'll find a famous actor to suit it. Say your bff Betty found a renaissance gown she loved. Great! If she's blonde, she's Kate Blanchette as Queen Elizabeth, or Gweneth Paltrow from Shakespeare In Love. If she's brunette, she's Sigourney Weaver from 1492, Judy Dench from Shakespeare In Love, or Rachel Weisz from The Fountain. Does Bob hate dressing up? Jeans, a white T-shirt, and slicked back hair and he's John Travolta from Grease.

How about a slightly overweight dark haired friend who hates costumes because she (mistakenly) feels like there aren't any costumes out there for her? She can wear what she usually wears from day to day, bring along a sledge hammer, and she's Kathy Bates from Misery. The possibilities are endless, and it accommodates wall flowers and limelight lovers, penny pinchers and spendthrifts, creative types and those of us who are forever chained, Prometheus-like, to creativity's writer's block. Another accommodating theme is Decades, where guests can wear anything between 1910 and 1980. That theme is particularly fun if you have guests of highly varying ages, as you can request they dress from the decade they were born in. Masquerade Ball is also versatile, as it allows guests to go all out (think Marie Antoinette style gowns) or minimalist (simple black dress with a cool mask).

2. Keep in mind how much skin your friends like to show. In example, a 1920s party is always fun, but flapper dresses (what most people envision for that era) are usually sleeveless and above-the-knee short, making it difficult for women who desire a little more modesty. It's not impossible to find dresses with more coverage in that time period, it just requires a touch more work and creativity. Playboy Bunny is not a good theme for the modest crowd.

3. I know we've all at some point gone to a Halloween party dressed in a head to toe replica gown of Queen Elizabeth the first, only to find the other guests didn't bother to dress up at all, am I right? Help your guests avoid that awkward misstep by letting them know how all-out you're planning the event to be. You can tell them in person, include a dress standard in the invitation, or make an arrangement with your local costume shop. Encourage them to dress up by having a costume contest with a worthy prize, or by decorating the venue to the hilt in the theme. Set up a photo op spot where guests can take their picture in costume. Include costume suggestions (with pictures) as well as local costume shops' addresses with the invitations. And always, themed music is a necessity for getting people in the spirit. If you can't think of what music suits a Vikings party, find a movie that feature vikings and go from there.

4. If you want to host a small crowd, How To Host A Murder mystery games are a great way to go. They're fun, funny, they guide you through the process step by step, and the invitations include costume suggestions.

5. In the end, the most important thing to keep in mind is the comfort of your guests. If you run in an economically challenged crowd, don't require them to shell out a lot of dough on an expensive costume. If your friends tend to be shy, Pimps and Hos is not a theme for you. Surprises are fun, but erring on giving guests too much information vs too little is the better way to go.

Here are some more theme suggestions, and may the Hosting Force be with you!
HollywoodDecadesFamous Musicians (anywhere from country, Mozart, to 80s hair bands)Carnival (ring master, bearded lady, lion tamer, tightrope walker, patron, the lion itself, magician, etc)Famous Book Characters

(and a few more themes that are fun though not as versatile)
VikingsComic Book CharactersVideo Game CharactresRock and RollFamous Couples (Sonny and Cher, Ketchup and Mustard, etc)ZombiesPiratesRenaissanceMedievalBrand Mascots (mermaid of Chicken of the Sea, Land O'Lakes Indian Princess, Mr.Peanut, etc)CartoonsAnimeIndividual DecadesAlice in WonderlandDisneyFairytale (Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Three Blind Mince)Greek or RomanBlack and White (where everyone wears only black or white, or any monochromatic scheme makes for dramatic resultsAnimalsHatsHeroes and Villains

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