Your dance school's uniform is such an important part of the overall identity of your school. A uniform provides a cohesive way for dancers to represent themselves and their school throughout classes, performances, and competitions and helps cultivate a sense of belonging and team spirit amongst students. With such a vast range of dancewear styles available to choose from, the task of selecting a uniform for your school can be a little daunting! To guide you through the process and make it that little bit easier, we've put together a list of helpful tips from our experienced dancewear consultants.

Talk to our helpful consultants

The very first step when deciding on your school's uniform is to have a conversation with one of our dancewear consultants. Our team are passionate about dancewear and their extensive uniform knowledge and valuable industry insight can help guide you seamlessly through the process of choosing your school's new look. They can also help you navigate our incredibly extensive Essentials Catalogue and tailor our wide range of selections to your needs! That way you're guaranteed to get the look you're after, whilst keeping your uniforms unique and personalised to your school.

Consider your students

When choosing a uniform, it's helpful to first think about what kind of environment your studio offers. Are the majority of your students looking for pre-professional training or are they there as an after-school activity? Do your students compete in competitions and eisteddfods or are they in class purely for enjoyment? If the majority of your students come for casual classes then parents will appreciate a more leisurely approach to uniforms (try to avoid excessive 'compulsory' items or accessories in favour of a slightly simpler look). However, if your school offers more elite, technique-focused training or students regularly compete in competitions and take multiple classes a week, then they'll value having more freedom in their uniforms (like two styles of leotards or jazz leggings and shorts) and great quality shoes that will last them through all their classes!

Keep these classes in mind

If you have a ballet class followed by a jazz class for the same age group, you might want to opt for an outfit than can be easily changed between classes. One option would be to have a set leotard for your ballet class and have students swap from a ballet skirt to jazz pants for their jazz class. That way you'll have a smooth transition between each class, without parents having to buy excessive uniform pieces.

Keep it consistent

Multiple dance uniforms can get a little bewildering, especially for new dance parents or students who participate in every style of dance, so it's worth trying to keep your uniform options as consistent possible. Multiple uniform choices for each class, whilst fun, can be overwhelming so try to settle on one particular style per item.

For example, decide whether your uniform skirt is a wrap skirt or a pull-on skirt or whether your uniform tap shoes are tan or black. The good news is our range is so extensive that once you've settled on a colour, we've got the variety of styles to match, so it's a piece of cake finding the ideal option to suit your students.

Appeal to your students' interests

As important as the look of your uniform is, remember to always consider the interests of your students when choosing outfits. Notice which dancewear styles are popular with your students and what they enjoy wearing. Also think about practical limitations: if your studio gets quite cold then look at adding a long sleeve leotard to the uniform, or if you teach a lot of older students, maybe add a wide strap leotard that offers extra support to the mix.

Consider their age

For classes with younger age groups, try to keep in mind that these students will outgrow their uniforms (and shoes!) much faster than your older students. They're also more likely to 'trial' or swap classes as they try to figure out what they enjoy - or whether dance is even for them. It's wise to keep uniforms more simplified for your younger dancers. Parents will really appreciate it and you can always save something a little more extravagant for your senior dancers (who won't be outgrowing their uniforms any time soon!).

Plan ahead

Another handy tip is to have your end-of-year concert in the back of your mind when making a uniform selection. If you have a certain theme or style already chosen and you know that black jazz shoes will work best with your theme, then try and incorporate this into your uniform. Not only is it a great help for parents but it saves them from getting another unnecessary pair of shoes that only get worn once before the holidays!

Keep us in the loop!

Letting our retail team know when you make uniform changes means we can make it our priority that your students are fitted in the correct uniform and provided with any relevant information they need to make the right purchases for your school. By keeping us updated on any changes, we can continue providing your students with the most helpful and up-to-date information. Should you like us to, we'll even note down your preferences for how your uniform and shoes should fit, as well as help parents navigate through the correct colours and styles for each class.

If you have any doubts or questions, or just want expert advice to help you decide on your school's uniform, we're always happy to assist. Our dancewear consultants help hundreds of schools choose and update their uniforms each year and take great pleasure in being able to share their wealth of knowledge with teachers and studio owners.

See us in store, talk to us online, or speak to our customer service team today.

www.energetiks.com.au
Ph: 1300 287 297

**Did you know we've got stockists all over Australia? That means once you've settled on a uniform outfit you're happy with, you can head to your local Energetiks stockist to organise your school's dance uniform. Like our dancewear consultants, our stockists are more than happy to assist you in the uniform selection process and can organise the right amount of stock to ensure your students won't ever get stuck without anything to wear!

The teacher's guide to choosing your dance school's uniform