Motionwear LLC || Dance Blog» Team Dance

Creating Custom Orders at MotionWear

Bob Wilson — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:00:56 +0000

One of the great things about MotionWear’s flexibility and design department is that we have the ability to customize any order. We’re able to create any uniform, leotard, or dancewear or gymnastics wear a customer needs.

One of the benefits is that this lets the customer be the designer. We have the staffing and ability to give a customer a very top-notch experience when ordering. We will consult with you on the type of fabric, the sequins and beading as well as the care of the costume. We want you to know how to best take care of your costumes. The process starts with a consult between the designer and the team representative, and ends when the customer has exactly what they want.

For example, we can make — but aren’t limited to — dresses, unitards, long sleeves to short sleeves, or short sleeves to long sleeves, tuxedo style leotards, and many other ideas. If you see an outfit in a magazine, and it is the perfect costume for your team or routine, we can make something just like it, customized specifically to the needs of your dance team. Our orders are all made with the same care and consideration we give our regular items. We know dancers, we know the hard wear and tear they can dish out to their dancewear and leos, and we make sure they can take it.

The one thing that we cannot do is customized fabrics. However, it really isn’t necessary since we carry an enormous variety of fabrics in house. We carry fabrics that are all high quality, and are made specifically for dancers. The fabrics are made to move with the dancer and are expected to be both sweated in, and to get a vigorous workout, so they have to be durable and long-lasting.

We just want to make the customer happy and create the order they want, no matter how difficult or outlandish it may be considered. The sky is the limit when it comes to possibilities for customization. If you can dream it, imagine it, or envision it, we can make it for you.

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What to Consider When Buying Team Dance Uniforms

Kathe Jones — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:00:28 +0000

When buying team dance costumes or uniforms, there are several things to consider before making the purchase. It’s important to think beyond the first performance. If your uniforms are going to be used more than once — which they should be — you need to think about their care and maintenance.

Are they easy to care for or will you need to iron them between each use? Does the fabric move with the dancer? Are the colors likely to bleed or fade after washing? How do you launder the uniforms? Do they need to be hand washed, dry cleaned, or can you just throw it in the washing machine with all of your other laundry?

Of course, the routine being performed and the venue where the routine is performed are also considerations to keep in mind, but there are plenty of good-looking uniforms out there. The biggest question should be one of durability and quality.

Durability is a key consideration. No one wants a wardrobe malfunction, so it’s important to make sure the item is stitched up properly and securely. Are there sequins and beads sewn on the costume? If so are they secure so they won’t come off, fall on the floor and cause yourself or another dancer to slip and fall? You do not want to cause an accident because you have something that could fall off or swing around and hit another team member.

You also want to make sure that the fabric is as simple to take care of as possible. You do not want to have to steam clean it or iron it before each performance, especially if you have to wear it more than once a day. Dancers change their outfits several times during the day; the costume gets bunched up and thrown into a bag until it is time to wear it again. If the fabric wrinkles easily, you end up wasting a lot of time ironing. You also want to make sure that the fabric is flexible. You want major durability with each costume for flexibility and comfort with the dancers, if it doesn’t have either of those characteristics then reconsider buying that costume.

Not all costumes and uniforms are high quality pieces, there are some that are just quickly stitched together which may fall apart with the rigorous movements required in team dancing. Make sure you buy the highest quality costumes to get the most wear out of them. What you spend upfront might just save you a lot of time and money down the line.

Photo: Kevin Coles

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Different Styles of Team Dancing

Kathe Jones — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:00:07 +0000

Team dancing has many different styles. It really depends on the choreographer and what kind of dance style they are most comfortable teaching and performing. While all styles of team dancing have a few things in common such as dance uniforms, dance costumes, and all members of the team basically performing the same movements, there are some notable differences between the different styles of team dancing. If you or your children are interested in team dancing, it’s important to know the differences when scouting out some of the different schools and teachers.

Lyrical Jazz Team Dancing is a style that blends ballet with jazz movements. The songs or music the dance team moves to tend to be slower and more ballet like. The dance team uniforms tend to be designed in the ballet fashion. The movements are slower and flowing.
Prop Team Dancing is just what it sounds like. The dancers use props in their performance. The props can range from books to stuffed animals, or whatever the routine might call for to illustrate the vision the choreographer wants to showcase.
Pom Team Dancing is more like the standard cheerleading most people think of, using pom poms to accentuate the moves the dancers make.
Hip Hop Team Dancing is an exciting routine that incorporates not only hip hop dance movements to fast-paced songs, but also the dancers dress in urban street clothes rather than traditional dance costumes. The movements are raw and synchronized at the same time. The music is loud, has a deep bass beat, and gets everyone fired up.
Modern Team Dancing is a form of team dancing that incorporates modern dance into its routines. The dancers move in an often chaotic pattern. The dance uniforms can be wild or outrageous depending on the routine. There really is no form to modern dance, so this team dance has the most variety to it.
Novelty Team Dancing is similar to prop dancing, there is a theme to the dance and often exaggerated costumes are used to illustrate the change from standard team dancing. Think of a routine that uses country line dancing with the team members wearing jeans, cowboy hats and button down shirts, clothing dancer don’t usually wear except when there is a theme to showcase.

Today, dance teams incorporate many of these different styles of team dancing in to their routines. It depends on the choreographer to put it all together into a performance the dance team is able to perform, and the audience is most likely to enjoy watching. There is no set in stone style that must be used. It is simply the preference of the team and choreographer.

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Why Costumes Are Important in Team Dancing?

Kathe Jones — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:00:13 +0000

Team dancing costumes and other articles of teamwear clothing are not necessarily uniforms. Oftentimes, they’re more than that. Just depending on the event, or what the team is looking for in their teamwear, will often define what a dancer will wear.

It’s important to remember that these costumes will be performed in many times, they are not a one-time deal, like many traditional dance costumes. When ordering uniforms, use a catalog specifically for teamwear. There are costume catalogs and uniform catalogs. Make sure you know which catalog you are ordering from. If you need a uniform order from a uniform catalog, if you need a costume make sure you are getting it from a costume catalog.

Many uniforms and even practice wear are very flexible when it comes to adding and subtracting other articles and accessories. There are many styles of both, but durability is important when choosing performance costumes. That’s why many teams and schools will purchase practice wear and convert it to costumes: because the outfits have to last well beyond the first or second performance, usually for more than one year.

Motionwear dancewear is built to last from one year to the next. The colors don’t bleed or fade and the pieces can be used interchangeably. For instance a team might purchase a pair of black pants and zebra patterned spandex top for one routine, the next routine might require a leopard print spandex top and therefore only the tops need to be changed. The pants can be used for both costumes. So our dancewear has to be able to handle the versatility and the extra workload.

Costumes are all about the mood that is set either by a song in the routine or by the type of routine performed. Uniformity is important, all the dancers need to look the same, but this does not mean the costume is a uniform.

In addition to being durable, costumes must be flexible enough for the dancer to move and at the same time snug enough to show off the dancers fit physique. Costumes must breathe so the dancer is as comfortable as possible. Team dancing is an extremely physical sport, obviously the dancer sweats when performing such a physically challenging routine, it is imperative that the costumes that are chosen allow the dancer to move as freely as possible and without causing the performer to overheat.

Photo: Doug Waliing