Dancers get a bad rap about what they wear. Many people will laugh at guys who wear just tights and a tight top or girls who wear flesh tone leotards. I am done with all the haters. People don’t realize that dance wear is the way it is for a reason. Dancers don’t just decide they want to wear crop tops and booty shorts. There are good reasons behind it, and I am more than happy to explain why dancers wear what they wear.

Many times I have overheard others laugh and make fun of the costumes dancers wear on stage. I can distinctly remember when I was younger and our school had a field trip to see "The Nutcracker." A lot of my fellow classmates couldn’t stop giggling and making fun of the guy dancers. The lead dancer, especially, was only wearing tights. I have also had many incidents where people talk poorly about girls who dance and only wear crop tops and booty shorts. I personally never understood why people felt so inclined to comment on the costumes of dancers. I feel like other athletes have clothing items that can be very revealing or constricting. Guy swimmers usually only wear speedos because it is supposed to help them be faster swimmers. Baseball players wear tight and usually light colored pants that you can kind of see through, but they don’t get nearly as much flack from others as dancers do.

The biggest reason for dancers wearing tight and/or minimal clothing is to show their lines. For those of you that don’t understand what I mean by that, I shall define it for you. Lines are when you extend your body parts and make them as straight as possible. In dance you want to make sure you are practicing proper technique, and sometimes seeing a dancer’s lines helps to check their technique. Dancers also work a lot of muscles and even slow controlled dances use a lot of energy; it can make you sweat and get really warm. The more skin exposed, the less time it takes to warm your body and helps you feel comfortable enough to continue on with full energy. All the subtle movements a dancer makes will get lost if you wear baggy clothing. When a dancer dances they are usually doing more than what we think they are doing. For example, if a dancer is doing an arabesque: the main focus is the back leg that is being extended, but you also need to strongly pique up on your supporting leg, and make sure your top half is strong and place your arms a certain way. In essence, your whole body is participating in every move. You can’t see all these parts if the dancer was wearing baggy clothes. You wouldn’t be able to tell if they are doing it properly and using proper technique.

If you don’t like the way dancer’s costumes look, then I guess you’ll have to stop watching dance, because the costumes won't change. People wear outrageous things all the time. It really shouldn’t matter if dancers are wearing basically nothing. As long as they are comfortable and are great at dancing, costumes shouldn’t be scrutinized.