pony-tail for ballet? or she needs to have a bun?

[moodymaximus]

our classes are very informal, but i've seen an older girl asked to put her hair up in a bun. DD only wants a ponnytail, as she wants to do it herself, doesn't want my help. and says she doesn't like the "rules."

anyone knows what's the reason for the bun? how strict is this rule?

[moodymaximus]

anyone? we have to leave in 30 min, and there's majopr tantruming here...
she's also easily embarrassed, so i'm worried if i take her without it, and she is asked to go to get her hair fixed, she'd be even more upset

[lolar2]

Let her wear the ponytail, and stick around for a few minutes when you get there so you can switch it right away if the teacher says anything. Hope this is soon enough!

[lolar2]

IME the rule is not too strict before age 7-8. But the historical reason is that it's just part of the uniform like leotard/ tights.

[moodymaximus]

thanks!

[Nature]

Yup thats what I'd say. Unless its a very strict ballet school, at this age a ponytail should be fine.

[NiteNicole]

Can she pull it into a pony and then tuck the ends under if she needs a bun? It's sort of win/win.

[mama2kds]

can she do the pony part and then you wrap a scrunchy thing around it to make the bun?

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by mama2kds

can she do the pony part and then you wrap a scrunchy thing around it to make the bun?

Thats an easy bun. Let her wear a pony and if she gets in trouble even a regular rubber band can easily turn the pony into a bun. Just wrap the pony around in a circle at the base by the rubber band. Secure with the rubber band. I wear my hair like that everyday. The bun takes a whole 30 seconds longer than the pony. It even works with long hair, mine goes to my butt.

[firespiritmelody]

Another reason for the "bun" is to help keep the hair out of their faces - if the hair is longer, even in a pony tail, it is likely to get in her face. Also, its helpful for the instructor to be able to see whats going on, and hair flipping all over can be distracting.

I agree with the suggestion to pull the hair into the pony tail and then just dont pull it through all the way on the last one so that it flops in half of so. That should do the trick, and if you show her how, she should be able to do it herself.

From a slightly different perspective, does it bother her to have the other girl do it? If it's just an issue for *you* to be doing it, then I wouldn't worry about it any more.

If the teacher has an issue with the pony tail, I'm sure they will say somethign to you and can give more detail as to what they require and why.

[happyhippiemama]

My dd's ballet class asks that the hair all be pulled back.

We do a ponytail and then an extra scrunchy over it to hold the hair down into a bun-y looking thing.

[Mirzam]

I noticed your DD was five, at that age, unless it was a very strict RAD (Royal Academy of Dancing) teacher, I doubt they would insist on a bun. Of course if she is able to do multiple fouettés then a bun would be a good idea!

[sunshine's mama]

pony's are fine at the studio we go to and have been going to for awhile now...

when they are older (7ish) then they ask that the hair be in buns but not formal super tight ones...the scrunchie ones are fine....

the only time the hair has to be in a tight bun is for recital days.....

[PrennaMama]

I have noticed in dd's little class they all vascillate between bun and pony, but the older girls tend to go for the bun... Dd has an associating with ballet and buns, since she watches ballet and the pros (and oldest girls in the company) 99.9% of the time, have a bun. She wants to be like the REAL ballerinas.

Does dd watch ballet? That might be a way to encourage it... we recorded 3 versions of the Nutcracker during the holidays that dd is still obsessed with. She has to watch at least one of them, at least once a week...

[hermionesmum]

Our classes are pretty informal, too. Pony tail is fine. But they do need a bun for exams.
The older girl may be doing exam prep? I'd ask the teacher for some advice on dress code. It shouldn't be a big deal.

[nicole lisa]

Is there an assistant in the class? As a teen I was an assistant in the younger kids' classes and one of my jobs before class was to put up the hair of any girl who didn't have it up. Most of the kids came straight from school so very few had buns in and there weren't parents around to do the hair so it became my job. I always had a ton of bobby pins and elastics in my dance bag.

If there's an assistant around would your DD be OK with having her/him help get her hair up? It really depends on the school. Buns were the rule at my school but it was a pretty strict school and the instructor was a retired National Ballet dancer. Most schools aren't like that.

[moodymaximus]

Originally Posted by PrennaMama

I have noticed in dd's little class they all vascillate between bun and pony, but the older girls tend to go for the bun... Dd has an associating with ballet and buns, since she watches ballet and the pros (and oldest girls in the company) 99.9% of the time, have a bun. She wants to be like the REAL ballerinas.

Does dd watch ballet? That might be a way to encourage it... we recorded 3 versions of the Nutcracker during the holidays that dd is still obsessed with. She has to watch at least one of them, at least once a week...

i've tried this strategy. however DD is more influenced by Olivia the piggy than by the ballerinas. Olivia, btw, wanted a red soccer jersy, even if she was on a "green" team, because she didn't want to look like her teammates . and red was her favorite color

this class is pretty informal, and yesterday some girls did have ponytails.

another question: when they are on their backs for warm up stretches, i noticed DD wouldn't put her head down, as the bun end up under her head. the other girls don't seem to have this problem, but DD is sensitive this way. so was my "bun" too far at the back? i read that if you have them too high on the head, they might cause headaches, so i didn't want to put it too high.

[Sustainer]

When you do a turn, you need to whip your head around, and if you have a ponytail, it will whap you in the face. In my mother's ballet class, there is a rule against pony tails, but some of the girls ignore the rule, and these girls have subconsciously trained themselves to do a weird thing with their head when they do a turn, so that the pony tail doesn't hit them in the face. On the rare occasions that they actually do follow the rule, they still subconsciously do the weird thing with their head when they do turns.

My daughter is 7 years old and is in a ballet class and has very long hair (has never been cut). Here is what my mother taught me to do with her hair: First, put a pony tail right on top of the head. Then braid it. Then fold the braid in half and put a rubber band around it. Then fold it in half again and put another rubber band around it. This works for us.

I took ballet from the age of 2 until the age of 11. I also had very long hair. What my mother did with my hair was make two braids and wind them around my ears, sort of like the princess in Star Wars.

[mommy68]

Originally Posted by lolar2

Let her wear the ponytail, and stick around for a few minutes when you get there so you can switch it right away if the teacher says anything. Hope this is soon enough!

I agree. I wouldn't sweat over it. I would imagine they require the bun because it holds the hair in place a lot better and a lot longer than a ponytail does.

She's only 5 years old! Geez. I can't imagine them being that strict about their hair. Most kids that age do good to keep it up for any length of time anyway.

[Tinkerszs]

Tahlia's dance instructor requires that the hair is up. I usually do pigtails or two braids. Her hair isn't quite long enough or thick enough to stay in a pony tail.