All about men's dancewear

When you enter your local dancewear store, you are likely to see a fair amount of pink, tulle, and glitter.  Things with these attributes are usually placed in sight of little girls entering the store to make them excited.  Just because the pink ruffly things are the first things you see does not mean that they are the only things that the store offers.  Almost all local dancewear stores and online retailers carry dance clothing and shoes for their male customers.  In this post, I will give an overview of some basic men's dancewear items and what styles of dance they are used for.  (Note: I will be talking mostly about ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary/modern, and ballroom dance.  Hip hop is usually freer in dress code, and is therefore excluded).

Dance Belts

Men and teen boys need to wear dance belts under their dancewear.  Dance belts are supportive underwear that is meant to be invisible under tight fitting dance pants.  (Young boys should wear tight fitting brief style underwear instead.  Most dancewear companies make dance belts starting at men's small, which usually fits ages 12 and up.)  Dance belts have either a double layer of fabric or quilting or other padding in the front.  They are generally thong-style in the back.  This ensures that the dance belt does not show under tights or other close fitting bottoms.  Some dance belts have a full back (brief style), but they are less common.  Dance belts usually come in tan, white, and black, and they are made of a cotton or spandex fabric.  It is necessary to wear a dance belt that matches a dancer's skin tone when wearing white tights.  Any male dancer who does ballet, modern, or jazz needs to have a dance belt.  Advanced tap and latin ballroom dancers should wear dance belts too, as these styles are prone to fast and high-impact choreography at advanced levels.

Bottoms: pants, tights, and shorts

jazz pants

dance tights

dance shorts

In general, dance bottoms are tighter than the bottoms that you would choose to wear in everyday situations.  This is because teachers need to be able to see a dancer's body move through the clothing.  It is difficult to see and correct a dancer's placement if he is wearing baggy sweat pants.  Jazz pants are tight fitting from the hips to the knees, then they become flared or boot-cut to the ankle.  Most jazz pants are made of jersey cotton (like sweat pants) or spandex.  Jazz pants are common for jazz, tap, and ballroom.  

Men's dance tights are worn primarily by male ballet dancers.  Men's dance tights are much thicker than women's dance tights.  Men's tights are opaque, not see-through.  They are usually made of cotton or spandex.  Men's tights come in footed, footless, and convertible styles.  These are equivalent to the same styles in women's tights in terms of function.  Full foot covers the whole foot, footless ends at the ankle, and convertible appear full footed, but with an opening in the foot so they can be rolled up.  Some men's tights have suspenders on them so they are guaranteed to stay up during performances.  Men's tights usually come in white and black.  Dancers should wear the same color ballet shoes as tights, especially if the tights are footed.

Dance shorts are another option.  They generally come in "bike" length (mid-thigh) and "capri" length (just above the knee).  Men's dance shorts are usually longer than women's dance shorts in the inseam.  Dance shorts are usually made of spandex, and they are most common in black.  Most dancers choose dance shorts for modern or lyrical, but they are occasionally seen in ballet and jazz as well.

Tops: shirts, leotards, and unitards

dance leotard

dance shirt

dance unitard

Similar to dance bottoms, men's dance tops should be tight fitting.  Leotards are easy to wear because they do not come untucked from bottoms (which gives dancers one less thing to worry about), and some men feel comfortable wearing them without or instead of a dance belt.  Men's leotards are simple tank and short sleeved styles.  They usually come in white and black.  Men's leotards may be cotton or spandex.  Boys and petite men may wear simple women's leotards.  The styling is very much the same for both genders.  Men can wear leotards for ballet, jazz, and modern dance.

Dance shirts are usually made of spandex.  They are stretchy so they can fit tightly to the body.  Dance shirts are usually short sleeved, and they have high crew necks.  Most dance shirts are white or black.  Men can wear dance shirts for all styles, including ballet, tap, modern, ballroom, and jazz.  For most dress codes, shirts must be tucked in, so ensure they are long enough to stay tucked into bottoms.

The last option for top is a dance unitard.  Unitards take care of both the top and bottom clothing.  Men's unitards are usually tank or short sleeved on top, and they can be "bike", "capri", or "ankle" length.  Unitards are usually made of spandex, and they come in many colors.  Some male dancers choose unitards for ballet, jazz, and modern dance.  Many contemporary ballet and modern dance companies choose unitards as costumes for their male dancers as well.

Shoes

Many dance shoes are unisex, meaning that any dancer can wear them.  Only a few varieties (ballroom, occasionally tap) are gendered by style.  Some are also gendered by color.  Generally, if a shoe looks like a "women's" shoe (like a high heeled ballroom shoe), it is probably meant for women.  If a shoe is pink, it is also probably for women.  Most ballet shoes are unisex in style, but men stick to white, black, and tan while women tend to go for pink.  Almost all jazz shoes, modern footwear, oxford or jazz style tap shoes, and oxford style ballroom shoes are unisex.