14 Perfect Gifts for the Teenaged Ballerina

I am sometimes sad that my kids are now both too old for toys, mostly because *I* love American Girl dolls and Hot Wheels and LEGOs, too! I'd still happily sit on the rug and dress up My Little Ponies endlessly, but apparently 13- and 15-year-olds don't do that sort of thing anymore.

Whatever. I'll just wait until they both leave for college and then get all their toys back out and play with them again.

Fortunately, Syd, at least, has hobbies and interests that have taken over the time that she used to spend dressing up her Barbies and taking them on adventures. Premier among these is ballet, and as I'm getting a jump on Christmas shopping/crafting this year, here are some of my favorite ideas for gifts for the teenaged ballerina!

Bobby Pins

It's prosaic, I know, but ballerinas always need lots and lots of bobby pins, they're always losing them, and they never have enough. I promise that if you give a ballerina bobby pins, she'll be really happy! This set of bobby pins is perfect to tuck into a stocking (ahem), and I like that it's got a container so that there's at least a fighting chance that the bobby pins will mostly get put back inside it.

Mostly.

Cover-Up

Syd declares that it's nice to have something to throw over your ballet clothes so that even if you don't change completely into your street clothes, you also don't look like you're just wearing your ballet uniform. Sometimes the kids have a while between classes and it's a hassle to change back and forth, and sometimes after class Syd would rather change at home than at the studio, but she also doesn't want to walk around Kroger's in her leotard if Matt wants to stop for something.

I bought Syd her current ballet cover-up, very similar to this one, in Hawaii, where it was being sold as a bathing suit cover-up, but I've also seen ballerinas wearing stretchy, loose dresses or oversized hoodies as a cover-up. 

Dance Bag

Dancers always need a good dance bag! As they grow in skill, they've got ever more gear to tote around. A good dance bag is definitely on Syd's wish list for Christmas--she's still using the drawstring bag that I made her when she was a Creative Movement kid and just needed a place to keep her tights and leotard between Saturday classes, and now that she's got classes three days and Nutcracker rehearsals two days every week, she definitely does NOT have enough room for her spare leo and tights, street clothes, dance skirt, stretch bands, hair supplies, stage makeup, water bottle, and snack, poor kid.

Syd likes bags that are ballet-centric and that don't broadcast the company's name. Bloch is a really good brand, too, and I like the fact that you can buy this dance bag in two different sizes. For bonus points, add a makeup bag and a separate bag for her hairbrush, because loose hairbrushes tear tights!

Fun Leotards

In some dance schools, there is exactly one leotard, and only exactly one leotard, that is permitted for class. In other dance schools, you can wear whatever you want. Syd's dance school leans toward the former, but isn't quite there. There's definitely one exact leotard--black, halter top--that the girls know they're supposed to wear, but in the average class any black leotard is acceptable, and a lot of the girls really like to change up the boring uniform by wearing black leotards with interesting features or small pops of color.

In-Home Ballet Studio

Matt and I definitely went overboard building this in-home ballet studio for Syd, but it started off simply, with just that PVC pipe ballet barre, and that's a quick, easy, cheap project that comes apart and therefore stores well. To ramp it up, add a single wall mirror. To go beyond what we did, add a stereo and some inspirational posters.

Inside Jokes and Puns

The ballerinas I know love to share little inside jokes and ballet puns with each other--when you're part of something so specialized, part of the fun is taking advantage of the specialized language and enjoying the community of a secret code!

I really want to buy this shirt for Syd especially because she also studies French and so the thought of a French swear on a T-shirt cracks me up, but Syd herself prefers stuff that uses actual ballet terminology to build puns.

Leg Warmers

Ballerinas need to keep their muscles really, really warm, and leg warmers are a great way to do it. Syd really likes the Bodywrappers brand (we buy their tights!), and she likes the fact that these Bodywrappers leg warmers are so long.

Misty Copeland Stuff

All the ballerinas I know are super into Misty Copeland--there are a LOT of Misty Copeland-themed inspirational memes going around the teen ballerina Instagram accounts, I'll just say. I really like the fact that her bio has a young reader's edition, as well as a regular edition for older kids, and there's a picture book about her for the little ones, too!

Notebook

In the past, Syd's ballet teachers have had the kids write out their choreography, or jot down dance terms, etc. It happens often enough that it's handy to have a notebook and pencil in one's dance bag, especially if it's a cute one like this one that also has a cardboard cover, so that when she finds it in the very bottom of the bag under her jazz outfit and last week's leftover snack, it's at least not crumpled beyond recognition.

Performance Souvenirs

The Nutcracker is so far the only really big production that Syd's danced in, but she loves it so much that she always loves getting keepsakes related to it, and I imagine it's much the same with most ballerinas and their favorite productions. I like the idea of this LEGO Nutcracker because it's both a keepsake AND something that she can take apart and store away when it's not on display.

Socks

Are all teen girls super into socks these days, or is it just my teen girl? Well, and her friends, because there are some kids over right now with Syd, and I've definitely seen some novelty socks running past on other feet.

So in my humble opinion, most teen girls these days would be super thrilled about socks, and a ballet kid would be extra super SUPER thrilled about ballet socks like these!

Stretch Bands

Syd's afraid of her studio-issued stretch band because the very first time she used it outside of class, it snapped her in the face and really hurt her! Nevertheless, ballerinas have to use them, so they might as well have some in their favorite colors.

Travel Games

There are a lot of long waits during performance season. It's great for the kids because they get SO much time with their ballerina friends, but also they have to stay somewhat contained and quiet-ish and can't mess up their hair, etc., so the activities that they can do together are limited. Travel games keep them from all just zoning out on their phones, and for some reason--maybe because the waits are so long and the options for entertainment are so limited--the kids tend to LOVE them. Every Nutcracker season that Syd has danced in has been consumed with group addictions to games like Uno and Spot It, quick and easy games that as few or as many people can play as necessary, games that everyone already knows the rules to, games that move fast so you can drop them the second you hear your stage call and still feel like you accomplished something.

Spot It is especially fun, I've gathered, because there are so many different varieties to the sets. If a kid brings in a new set with a different theme, all the kids act as if it's a totally new game and get excited all over again.

Warm-up Booties

Here's another thing that ballerinas always could use another pair of: warm-up booties! These are really useful, because ballerinas have to keep their feet warm and studios in the winter are freezing, but they're also super cute and comfy. I don't know a single dancer who isn't obsessed with these exact warm-up booties.

Do YOU have a dancer who loves something specific, or have you given a ballerina a gift that was a major hit? If so, please tell me about it in the Comments below, because I SUPER want to know about it!

We Built an In-Home Ballet Studio for our Young Ballerina

The genesis of this project/home remodel was the PVC pipe ballet barre that Matt and the older kid made for the younger kid for Christmas last year. I suggested it as a present because I thought that she would love it, and she did, but...

...apparently, if you give a ballerina a ballet barre, she'll ask for a full-length, wall-mounted mirror to go with it.

It took me a few months to casually suss out the logistics, but finally, in consultation with the younger kid and Matt, we decided that--well, remember those wall-mounted shelves that Matt made?

I'd insisted that the shelves shouldn't go all the way to the adjacent wall because we have yet another door to the outside there (we have FIVE doors to the outside in our strange, not-really-that-large house) and I thought it would be weird if the door knocked into the shelves when it opened.

Well, it turns out that if you actually don't care about that at all, you've given yourself another full six feet of wall to work with!

BUT you're going to have to empty those shelves--

--unscrew them from the floor and wall, and move them.

They're maybe a teensy bit wobbly now, but don't tell Matt.

I was excited about emptying the shelves, because that's where we keep board games, puzzles, and floor toys, and now that I've got these great, big girls, I expected that I'd be able to get rid of just absolute loads of games and toys. After all, these big girls don't still play Secret Garden and Professor Noggin, do they?

They do.

They don't still want Lincoln Logs and Kapla blocks and marble runs readily accessible, do they?

They do.

They're not still interested in building race car tracks and zipping their Darda cars through them, are they?

Actually, they're not, they say, and so I have it on my to-do list to ebay that giant Rubbermaid bin full of Darda tracks, but even those got one last huzzah:

We bought two of these 60"x36" mirrors, and with much terror and uncertainty about the quality of our walls, Matt mounted them in our brand-new swath of wall space:

He's got my stash cushion foam there to pad the mirrors while we were fiddling with them. I really should use up the rest of that cushion foam and free up some closet space, but then what would we do if we wanted to mount more giant mirrors?

 

When they were mounted, all we had to do was move the kid's ballet barre in front of it, and she's all set!

It's a great place to pester Jones, the world's crankiest kitten:

And it's also a good spot for some impromptu ballet practice, because of course technique class and jazz class aren't nearly enough dancing for one Saturday!

I'd like to add some framed prints and signed programs to the kid's studio area, but I'm hesitant to put anything above the mirror that could even remotely be nudged off of the wall by pounding ballerina feet, and there's not enough room on either side of the mirror, darn it.

Perhaps a couple of posters could go above the mirror, or a stenciled quote...

Let me know if you think of something suitable!

Movement and Grace: Scenes from the Ballet Classroom

Syd has been dancing ballet since the age of four. It's one of the governing passions of her life. It's the only extracurricular, other than Girl Scouts and our volunteer work, that she chooses. She loves ballet, and I love watching her dance.

Indulge me in the matter of a few photos, then. Syd's ballet program only invites parents into their classroom for one week every semester. I agree with this policy (me!!! Who NEVER agrees with anyone else's rules!!!) because Syd, at least, finds the presence of parents, in particular her own, super distracting and does not enjoy Parent Observation Week, but for me, it's the only week each semester that I get to watch my kid in class--AND take photos and videos of her!

You're luckier than my friends and family, in that here I'm only going to #mombrag with the rare photos that I could catch of Syd without her peers identifiable in the frame, an especially challenging strategy in that I highly suspect that Syd chooses her placement during Parent Observation Week to be as far from her Mom's giant camera as possible.

As if there aren't three other Moms with giant cameras sitting right next to me. She's not the only embarrassed kid, I assure you!

This is one of Syd's ballet teachers this year. She was her sole ballet instructor last year, and Syd and I were absolutely thrilled that she got her again this year, too. Honestly, out of all of the ballet teachers that Syd has ever had in this program, both faculty and college ballet majors, this college student is the best teacher that Syd has ever studied under. She is the best teacher, in any subject, that I have ever seen. She's extremely demanding but still encouraging, she motivates the kids, is quick to correct and to praise, gives each of them tons of attention, tells them stories about her own ballet experiences, and teaches them the choreography that she's learning for her own performances. She hands down leotards that she thinks might fit them. Sometimes she even does their hair. She advocated with the head of the program to cancel pre-pointe class on Halloween so that the children will have time to trick-or-treat. Every time she interacts with the children, it's easy to observe what a gifted teacher she is, and how invested she is in the kids' growth and well-being, and how she enjoys their company and really sees them for who they are as individuals. She is exactly the mentor and role model that you would want for your tween girl in the world of ballet.

Also, my kid is the best stretcher in class. Just saying.

Excuse how grainy and blurry my photos are. You would think that a ballet studio would be well-lit, wouldn't you? Well, I'm here to tell you that it most certainly is NOT.

Jazz is a new class offering this year. Syd does not prefer it, and likely wouldn't choose to go if I didn't encourage her to, but I LOVE it. They dance to music that has a drumbeat! And guitar! And a melody with words! And I usually know the words! Because it's usually Weezer!

Ballet at this time of year is even more exciting, because we are well into rehearsals for the university's yearly production of The Nutcracker. Syd will be dancing the role of a party guest this year, and although she's pretty bummed to be cast as a male character for the second year in a row, meaning that she has to wear pants and a wig instead of a beautiful dress and her long hair styled into ringlets, the silver lining is that I don't have to learn how to use a curling iron yet, and my well-practiced performance bun is a thing of beauty and majesty.

And even if she's not dancing the part that she most wants, she's still dancing--on the big stage, to the music of a live orchestra, in front of hundreds of people, and with her friends. It's the thing that she most loves to do, and whether I'm backstage or in the audience, I'll get to do what I love most, too, which is watch her being happy.

The Ballerina in Her Classroom

As you will likely have guessed if you've known me for at least a year, we are deep into Nutcracker season, with the curtain rising in just nine days for my little Mother Ginger boy.

Every year, I tell you that the experience is overwhelming, and then the next year Syd is offered an even more demanding role, and the experience becomes that much more overwhelming. Soldiers rehearsed twice a week, but Mother Ginger's children rehearse every single flipping day--sometimes twice a day! I am a chauffeur, and a babysitter of young ones on their breaks, and I have a bad cold to show for it. Syd, of course, thrives, loving every minute of it, her only wish to dance even more (and perhaps to be a Mother Ginger girl instead of a boy, but we mustn't dwell on casting decisions past, for there madness lies).

The Mother Ginger scene, though, is my second favorite in all of the Nutcracker (nothing can beat the battle!). I also think it's interesting how every choreographer creates a different version of the dance to the exact same music.

Here, for instance, is Balanchine's version:



This epic performance is a hip hop version!



Along with rehearsals, of course the pre-college ballet program's dancers are expected to keep up with their regular dance classes, and for a treat Syd's teacher (who, despite being only a sophomore in the university, I think, is the absolute best ballet teacher that my child has ever had. The children all adore her, and Syd has never improved so quickly as under her tutelage) the other day invited us parents into the typically no-parents-allowed studio space to watch our children's class.

I am about to show you too many photos of that class, but don't worry--I have a hundred more that I'm not sharing!

I don't know where the kid gets her grace and poise from, but it is not from me or her father. Her sister, too, runs into every doorway that she passes. How wonderful, then, to have found a program where she can develop her natural talent into a deeper skill, one that challenges her and helps her develop perseverance and dedication.

Nevertheless, I am DEEPLY looking forward to the post-Nutcracker winter break!