Your dance bag comes in handy for toting around your dance shoes, but your dance bag should also prepare you for the unexpected. Make sure your dance bag is packed with items you might possibly need, including emergency health supplies, extra dance gear and clothing, personal beauty items, and quick snacks.
- Emergency Health Supplies: As every dancer knows, unexpected things will happen. Whether it be a sudden headache before an audition or a bleeding blister, it pays to be prepared. Always carry a few extra health supplies you might need in case of an emergency. Throw a small emergency kit inside your dance bag with the following items: pain relief medication, band-aids, antibiotic ointment, toe tape, gauze, and a small manicure kit.
- Extra Dance Gear and Clothing: Wearing the proper dance gear is extremely important to a dancer. Your dance bag should contain the necessary gear and clothing you need for each style of dance that you participate in. Make sure and pack the following important items: various dance shoes, toe pads, legwarmers, shrugs or light sweaters, extra tights, extra leotard, and small sewing kit.
- Personal Beauty Items: Every dancer wants to look (and smell) her best while dancing. Ballet dancers especially concern themselves with a tidy appearance, including tight hair buns and smooth clothing lines. Besides appearances, you've probably been in a dance studio with a dancer who seemed to have forgotten all about personal hygiene. Confidence is everything to a dancer, so give yourself an edge by packing the following items: hair ties, hairpins, bobby pins, hair nets, hairspray, deodorant, breath mints, sweat towel, Chapstick/lip gloss, nail clippers, and lightly scented body spray.
- Quick Snacks: Food and water are essential to dancers of all types. Running out of energy on the dance floor is easy to do during long classes or rehearsals. Make sure you keep your body going by grabbing a snack or drink whenever you need it. Here are a few healthy items to keep in your dance bag: bottled water, hydrating drinks, granola/energy bars, trail mix, bananas, pretzels, and extra change for the vending machine.
