Dress Code and Uniform Policy

Halestone’s class uniform and dress code guidelines benefit dance students by promoting discipline and ensemble awareness, and allow for the accurate assessment of technical performance.  At the teacher’s discretion, dancers who are not properly attired may be excused from class participation.

Please contact us if our uniform requirements are a burden for your family. We have a collection of donated dance clothes and shoes that we can provide to your child. In particular, we have many pairs of tap shoes that we can loan to students in tap.

Students in Ballet

Pre-Ballet

  • Students must wear a leotard with attached skirt or leotard without skirt in pink or black, OR dance pants and fitted t-shirt.
  • Students need ballet shoes
  • Students need to come to class with their hair secured and pulled back.
  • No jewelry, dance crowns, or dress up clothes that inhibit movement

Advanced Ballet

  • Ballet students must wear a black leotard, black wraparound skirt or dance shorts, and pink tights OR a fitted T-shirt, dance pants, shorts, or footless leggings, and dance belt if applicable (usually, for male dancers in middle school or older)
  • Ballet students need ballet shoes, typically ballet pink for female dancers and black for male dancers

Students in Adult & Me and Creative Movement

  • Students in these classes may wear leotards, dance dresses or stretchy tops in any color and dance pants or footless leggings in any color
  • Students should be ready to dance barefoot (socks, footed tights and footed leggings are not safe!); however, students that wish to wear ballet slippers may do so
  • No jewelry, dance crowns, or dress up clothes that inhibit movement

Students in Contemporary/Ballet Mix

  • Leotards or tightly fitting stretchy tops in any solid color and footless leggings in any solid color
  • No pajamas or baggy clothes
  • Tights and ballet shoes are optional

Students in Creative Movement Ensemble, Contemporary Dance Techniques, Company Prep, Advanced Seminar in Modern, and Modern Company Ensemble

  • Leotards or tightly fitting stretchy tops in any solid color and dance pants or footless leggings in any solid color
  • Kneepads are recommended but not required for company level dancers.**
  • Male dancers in high school should wear a dance belt

Students in Jazz

  • Students may wear leotards or tightly fitting stretchy tops in any color and dance pants or footless leggings in any color
  • Students are not required to purchase jazz shoes. If you do purchase jazz shoes, please purchase black ones

Students in Tap and Clogging

  • Leotards or tightly fitting stretchy tops in any solid color and dance pants or footless leggings in any solid color
  • Male dancers in high school should wear a dance belt
  • Tap dancers need tap shoes
  • Clogging dancers need to have clogging shoes with buck taps

Shoes

  • Students in all levels of Ballet and Kinder Ballet need to have ballet shoes.
  • Students in all levels of Creative Movement (including Adult & Me) and Modern will be expected to dance barefoot.
  • Students in tap need to have tap shoes.
  • Students in clogging need to have clogging shoes with buck taps.
  • Students in Jazz II may dance in jazz shoes, black socks, or bare feet.
  • Student in Jazz III need black jazz shoes
  • Students in ballet progress to pointe shoes at the recommendation of the instructor only.
**Kneepads
We recommend buying your kneepads from Contact Quarterly. They are of high quality and your purchase supports a dance non-profit.

Rules to Follow:

  • Arrive Prepared.  Dancers are expected to arrive for class on time with their class uniform, dance shoes, and other class equipment (including hair bands or pins for securing buns and other appropriate hairstyles).  
  • Hair must be styled securely, pulled away from the face and off the neck with bangs cut above the eyebrows or pinned back so that the dancer’s vision is not obscured and hair is not slapping the face when performing turns. Hair merely tucked behind the ears is NOT considered secure.
  • Female dancers in Ballet must wear their hair in a bun. If hair is too short to fashion in a bun, follow the above stated guidelines for a secured hairstyle that does not interfere with class participation.
  • Jewelry must be removed before class.  Wristwatches, necklaces, large rings on ears or fingers, and bracelets on wrists or ankles are a potential hazard should they catch on clothing, hair, or other dancers. Small, non-dangling earrings are allowed.
  • Jeans are not allowed in dance class.
  • Dance Shoes must be worn for studio use only.  Street shoes or dance shoes worn as street shoes (traveling from the car to studio) are NOT allowed in the studio since even small traces of dirt or grease cause damage to the studio floors and make it unsanitary for dancers performing floor exercises during class.  When purchasing shoes for class, dancers must buy the dance shoes specified for their class  (see Uniform Requirements above).  Shoes manufactured for street use damage the studio floors and leave behind hard to remove marks on the soft wood and vinyl surfaces.   
  • Bare Feet must be washed and clean before entering the studio for class.
  • Spill-proof water bottles are recommended for all students in all classes.