Tour of a…Dance Bag?

Hi guys! It’s Lydia here! As you probably have noticed, I am sooooo not sticking to my posting schedule! After HARPs is over, I will decide whether or not I would like to stick to it, but for the next six weeks or so, expect me not to!

And speaking of HARPs, Starling has given us the new topic – a tour!! Click here to see her post and click here to see my HARPs post from last week.

I have gotten requests for room/desk tours, but unfortunately I am an extremely messy girl at the moment whose life is in almost complete and total chaos!! So…I decided to give you not a room or desk tour, but a tour of my dance bag!!

I have done a similar post to this, and you can check that out here, but I wanted to show you guys a new and improved version of my dance bag – this one with pictures!

And also stay tuned for an announcement/big question at the end of this post!

Without any further ado…

*the picture above it not mine – credit goes to Unsplash – and isn’t counted in overall HARPs score

---

First, let me introduce you to my dance bag! It’s a small Vera Bradley duffel in the Wildflower Garden pattern (this pattern is retired unfortunately…) It’s really pretty and can fit all of my crazy stuff in it and I love love love it!!!

Then we have my pointe shoes!! I currently use the Bloch Euro-Stretch shoes (the ones on the right), but I still keep by Bloch Heritage shoes (on the left) just in case. I keep them in a mesh pink baggy along with my toe pads, toe spacers, and lambs wool for padding!

Then we have all my other shoes! We have my four pairs of ballet shoes, one pair of characters shoes, and one pair of foot undeez (used for lyrical). Three pairs of my ballet shoes are super duper dirty because I dance in them a lot, and I’m saving the newest pair for my Cecchetti exam (if you don’t know what that is I’ll be explaining that later in this post) 😀

Next my hair stuff! I have my hairbrush, two hair nets, one scrunchie, three extra headbands, and lots of pins!! I keep everything but the hairbrush in the little pink bag! I don’t use the scrunchie, bobby pins, or green/pink headbands as much, but it’s nice to have them for extra reassurance just in case my hair goes haywire 😛

First-aid is a must have for a dancer’s bag! I keep A LOT of bandages (seriously…so many…), one toenail clipper (which is SO NECESSARY for pointe!!), a regular smaller nail clipper, and elastic bandage for extra ankle/knee support if needed 🙂 I keep everything in a sparkly pink bag! (I love pink as you can tell ❤ )

Keeping a notebook (or two) in your dance bag is important. I use mine to write down choreography, corrections, or anything that I want to remember! It’s nice to go over what’s in my notebook before class starts as an extra reminder. I have two, and I keep a purple pencil case for writing everything right after class when it’s fresh in my mind!

Speaking of my pencil case, what is inside of it? I keep lots of needles, dental floss, a needle threader, scissors, clear nail polish, a little doggy pen, a pencil, pencil led, two regular pens, and two sharpies! I use the needles, floss, threader, scissors, and nail polish for pointe shoe sewing/maintenance. I use the writing utensils for my notebook or labeling my shoes…anything I need them for!

Then all my “exercise equipment”. I keep a muscle roller for sore muscles, two therabands, and a tennis ball. It’s nice to have them so you can stretch or do some warm ups before/after class. See my post on this here!

Here are some other things I keep in my bag. My water bottle (absolutely necessary!), a phone charger, gum (why do I even have this in here??) and pillow stuffing for extra extra pointe shoe padding if I need it!

*sorry I included the foot undeez in this picture because I forgot I put them in the shoe picture 😛

Then I have my clothes…they look super weird in this picture, but anyway – I keep a character skirt, a few extra leotards and an extra pair of tights – you never know if there will be a leotard malfunction or you spill coffee on your tights! 😀

And then my Cecchetti things! Cecchetti is the Italian method of ballet, created by Enrico Cecchetti. There are seven basic grades, and in order to move from one grade to another, you have to take and pass an exam. I am taking my Grade 4 exam this year in May! In this particular grade, you get to choreograph a one-minute solo to perform in front of the examiners, and so I chose the song December Christmas by Tchaikovsky, and I’ve had so much fun choreographing it! In the Cecchetti method of ballet, you have to also know French terminology, and some theories, etc. So…they give you a book for each grade with all the patterns + terminology – everything you need to know for that exam!

I’m not sure if that makes sense, but let’s go with it…

---

That’s it! That is the end of the tour of my dance bag! I hope you enjoyed it and found it somewhat helpful!! ❤

And now I have a big question for you all:

Would you like me to host a photography contest in May? Comment yes down below if you want me to!

And as you go throughout your weekend and your week, just remember this: You are special, you are beautiful, you are loved, and there is nobody in the world that can take away your value. 

Thanks again for reading! ❤ Don’t forget to give this post a like, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and also to follow this blog to receive a notification every time I come up with something new! ❤

Till next time ~

Points: 27