Why is stage makeup so heavy and bold?

Are you dreading putting winged eyeliner on your 9-year-old for her debut performance as a Christmas angel?  Or do you hate staining your lips with red lipstick at every performance?  Here are some things to consider to make you feel a little better about your stage makeup.

Why stage makeup?  The basic reason that dancers wear stage makeup is to make them look like they have facial features from a stage distance.  Have you ever noticed how members of an orchestra across the room or baseball players down on the field start to all look like faceless stick-figures?  That’s how dancers would look too if they did not wear stage makeup.

Why winged eyeliner?  Female dancers wear winged eyeliner to make their eyes look bigger and more feminine.  Male dancers (and girls playing male parts) usually wear “basic” eyeliner that defines the eyes without emphasizing a feminine shape.

Why red lipstick?  Girls and women wear red lipstick so the shapes of their mouths are visible from the audience.  Men and boys wear brown or mauve lipstick for the same reason.  If the audience cannot see the dancers’ mouths, they won’t know if the dancers are smiling.

Why contour?  Children don’t need to contour, since round faces appear cherubic and cute.  Teen and adult dancers use contour, highlight, and bronzer to make their faces look thinner and more 3-D from the audience.  A round face is cute for a Christmas angel, but the Arabian soloist generally desires a more grown up and chiseled appearance.

Why false lashes?  Female dancers use false lashes to make their eyes look feminine and defined.  Male dancers usually do not wear lashes (unless performing parts in drag), and from a stage distance, they usually look like they do not have lashes.  If you really, really hate false lashes, you can get a similar effect by applying 3 or more layers of very black lengthening and volumizing mascara.

Stage makeup may be a big pain to put on and take off, but it does a lot for you when you think about how you look from the audience’s perspective.