Periods and Ballet Class - Page 2

[talk de jour]

Originally Posted by Apricot

I know very little about dance - what's the reason for the no-panties rule? And what's the difference between "barre" and other parts of class?

Never took ballet, but as far as I know, no panties because of form. Thongs are allowed in most ballet schools I know of, but bigger panties are a lines/bulkiness issue.

And barre is in front of a mirror to check your form, so much the same reason AFAIK

[MeepyCat]

Originally Posted by Apricot

I know very little about dance - what's the reason for the no-panties rule? And what's the difference between "barre" and other parts of class?

The reason for the "nothing but leotard and tights" rule (which is what it actually is - not just no panties) is that the teacher doesn't want *anything* that prevents her from observing the line of the student's body, and making sure that each technique is being done correctly. (How necessary this is is an open question - actual professional dancers work out in a variety of outfits, because they have a variety of physical needs. Little shorts may obscure the line, but might be the extra layer that keeps a hip warm enough to prevent reinjury. Wristwarmers, legwarmers and ace bandages aren't exactly uncommon.)

Barre is sometimes called "warm up", but I've had classes that were nothing but. A lot of the time, barre (which generally involves dancers holding on to a bar at about hip height) is the part of class focused on practicing and perfecting the technique behind each move. The idea is to go slowly enough to get everything perfect, and give the teacher time to check that you're doing so and suggest improvements. Barre should also get your muscles warm and prepare you to work at higher speeds with no supports.

[Jane]

Thanks for answering my question! I appreciate it!

[snoopy5386]

Originally Posted by Mama Dragon

I always wondered this, I was in gymnastics but grew too tall to keep going before I started menstruating, so there was never an issue. DD wasn't interested, but I would be she'd tell any teacher whatfor if they tried to force her into using something she didn't want to, or not let her wear underwear and shorts for the couple days a month she needed to. Probably good she wasn't interested

I'm never swimming in a public pool after this thread though. Was on swim team too, but again, I had to quit before I started menstruating...I cannot imagine bleeding even a tiny amount into the water. Or swimming behind someone that was, ewwww.

sort of OT, my friend's water broke while she was swimming, and no they didn't tell the people at the pool, she was too focused on the whole baby thing!

[Kidzaplenty]

My daughter takes dance, is a serious dancer, and she is allowed to wear undies (which she does for modesty sake). She also refuses tampons and uses pads.

I am glad we have never had to deal with the no undies thing, she would likely have quite before giving in to that, no matter how serious a dancer she is (and she is VERY serious).

[carlylovesthesims2]

Originally Posted by mommyinIL1976

Ugh....this scares me!

ewwwww i never wanna swim in a public pool again isnt blood considered human waste?

[kennedy444]

Why not tampons?
My dd got her first period during the summer (at age 13) and didn't want to miss a minute of swimming or an upcoming pond party with friends. I bought and explained how to use the tampons, offered to come in and show her (got a big no), and with some practice she did figure it out pretty quickly.

[marimara]

Ummm, ok, I guess my dd won't be doing ballet because I see this whole thread as being completely ridiculous. A young girl forced to use tampons? Panty lines getting in the way of seeing body form? Seriously I am a massage therapist and I even give massages to people in underwear and no it doesn't even get in the way of me seeing every muscle in their body :

I really have no place in this forum since my dd is 2 but came across the thread from the homepage So. that's my disclaimer. Feel free to ignore my comments

[purslaine]

No disclaimer needed!

I too find the idea that someone feels they have the right to tell someone not to wear underwear, or to limit their choice during menstruation, a little apalling.

Kathy

[pinksprklybarefoot]

Something that I haven't seen mentioned would be to wear 2 leotards - one as "underwear" and one over it. I danced for many years, and at some of the schools I went to, this was pretty common. Granted, these were adults, but a lot of the dancers had a favorite leotard that was too beat-up/holey to wear alone, so they would just do one on top of the other.

Another thing to try would be to go to a nice department store and look for some "no line" panties that would be entirely covered by a leotard. One of my fellow dancers just could not handle the no panties thing (she felt it was too immodest), so this is what she did.

With regard to the dance instructor, what if your dd had a note from her dr saying that she couldn't use tampons for some reason? Could they really argue with that?

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Originally Posted by carlylovesthesims2

ewwwww i never wanna swim in a public pool again isnt blood considered human waste?

You don't bleed once you are in the water. I thought that was a common knowledge thing? Its not like the menstrual blood continues to flow out of you like that, it has to do with buoyancy etc. Also, if I scrap my knee on the concrete around the pool I probably bleed into etc. That's why they use chlorine. I am not saying public pools are nasty, but not only because of menstruation. Also if you wear a tampon sometimes it leaks etc.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0629.html

[Kidzaplenty]

I would think that wearing another leotard under the outer one would be more "bulky" than a simple pair of undies. And therefore defeat the "purpose" of not allowing undies in the first place.

It is a really stupid thing IMO. I wear undies and would not take them off for a dance teacher or a dance class. I may change them for a different kind that would work better for dancing perhaps, but I would never feel comfortable going without, with or without an additional leaotard on.

[pumpkin]

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

You don't bleed once you are in the water. I thought that was a common knowledge thing?

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0629.html

Plenty of women still bleed in the water. It just depends upon how heavy your period is. Having gotten out of a bathtub that quickly went from clear water to something resembling a horror film, I can assure you that if the flow is heavy enough, it will come out.

[ursusarctos]

I was on the swimteam in high school and I remember one girl was not allowed to use tampons because she was supposed to save her vagina for her husband, which apparently in her family meant nothing inside her at all ever before marriage, even her own finger or a tampon that she put there herself (even then this rankled my fledgling inner feminist but that's beside the point). So she would put a pad in her swimsuit (no, you couldn't see it) and just swim like that. She never bled in the water to my knowledge. Even if she did a little bit, a swimming pool is so vast that it is immediately mixed up in everything else. IMO a little blood is no grosser than all the snot, spit, and dead skin that goes into the water all the time. And yeah, as PP have said, chlorine. It's the public recreational facility's best friend.

[The4OfUs]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

I too find the idea that someone feels they have the right to tell someone not to wear underwear, or to limit their choice during menstruation, a little apalling.

Kathy

As a private business, they entirely have the right to conduct classes in the way they see fit (noting that it is an industry norm), just as people have the right to decide they don't want to pay for classes at their studio for that reason. : By the time we started going underwearless (it wasn't enforced at the studio I attended until the girls got into their teens, to upper level classes, taking pointe, more serious dancing), it was in fact more comfortable to not have the extra layer of underwear there, even though underwear seems thin...it could bunch up uncomfortably, stick to you, get wedged in places that were not comfortable for holding extensions or jumping, etc. : It had zero to do with anything untoward or sexual, in my personal experience and from what I could tell, of those around me. None of us saw it as a big deal. We saw other things as big deals and would talk about them, but the underwear (or lack thereof) was pretty much a non issue.

[Ruthla]

IMO, by the time a girl is old enough to menstruate, she's old enough to wear tampons. I personally started using tampons during my second period.

For a girl uncomfortable wearing tampons, I can see three options: wear a tampon JUST for dance class (and change back into a pad ASAP), wear a thin pad under her leotard, or drop out of dance.

It sounds to me like the "no underwear allowed" rule is only for older, more serious students. Some girls simply won't want to continue at that point- I myself lost interest in ballet when it became more serious and "less fun." By the time a girl is in a more serious class, as well as old enough to menstruate, she's old enough to make decisions about her time and her body. She may decide that ballet is rewarding and she wants to continue in spite of her discomfort about tampons. Or maybe she'll decide that tampons just squick her out too much and ballet is no longer worth it. Or, maybe your DD will have no problems with tampons and this won't be a concern at all.

[purslaine]

Originally Posted by The4OfUs

As a private business, they entirely have the right to conduct classes in the way they see fit (noting that it is an industry norm), just as people have the right to decide they don't want to pay for classes at their studio for that reason. :

Just because it is a private business and an industry norm does not make it OK. I have the legal right to do lots of things I do not do

The feminst in me simply is at the thought of anyone telling me if I can wear underwear and how to handle my period.

I understand many may choose not to wear underwear -but there is a difference between imposing and choosing.

I also get that one can argue "if you do not like it - don't take dance" - but I think that is a bit of a cop-out. One shouldn't have to put up with something or drop out if the "something" is unreasonalbe.

None-the -less this is not my cross to bear - no one in my family takes dance. If I was interested in dance, I would work to change this rule.

I hope the Op has found some solutions

Kathy

[tinuviel_k]

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

You don't bleed once you are in the water. I thought that was a common knowledge thing? Its not like the menstrual blood continues to flow out of you like that, it has to do with buoyancy etc. Also, if I scrap my knee on the concrete around the pool I probably bleed into etc. That's why they use chlorine. I am not saying public pools are nasty, but not only because of menstruation. Also if you wear a tampon sometimes it leaks etc.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0629.html

I really don't think this is true. I've taken a bath on my period and it certainly did get it the water.

[dancindoula]

To be fair, as a long time dancer I have never encountered the no-underwear thing as an actual Rule, it's just always been how it was done. In the school where I grew up and the schools where I have taught it is common for the very young little girls to wear underwear under their tights and leotards, but by the time they get to be around 8 or 9 just decide that THEY don't like their underwear showing under their clothes and start doing without. It's just sort of a non-issue in my experience. And like pp said, by the time they start more serious dancing it's pretty uncomfortable having one's underwear go creeping into places whilst trying to dance and one can't really dig it out that easily. Most dancers adopt the no undies policy on their own as a matter of personal comfort (not to mention they're already wearing both tights and a leotard anyway so many of them feel undies are redundant), but if you wanted to take a class and chose to keep them on I've not met a teacher yet that would try to force them off.

......And I can't even fathom any teacher mandating the type of menstrual products a girl uses. : Really? Is there truly a school with a "thou shalt only use tampons to staunch thy menstrual flow" rule???

[fork]

Get her one of these http://image3.discountdance.com/image/250x300/3680.jpg
wear next to skin, with whatever pad she likes, put tights over, and then the regular leotard. This is what I did for years before I got the hang of tampons. Regular undies, besides looking terrible, are super uncomfortable. The leotards they make specifically to go under other leotards/costumes are very thin and fit well, much more comfortable and you can't really notice them. I could never get a pad to stay in place and hidden by just sticking it to my tights.