How do APA staff members choose recital costumes?  

Recital costumes …. they conjure up fanciful images of bright-colored tutus, sparkly fabric, bold accessories, and of course, LOTS of sequins! Have you ever wondered how we decide which costumes will be worn by which classes, and with which music and choreography?  Here’s a little peek at how that process works! Before the costume selection begins, we check to see that the manufacturer is reputable and has excellent customer service.  We also want to make sure that the quality of costumes and value for the cost are the best they can be (cheapest doesn’t mean best!) because we respect our customers’ investment in costumes. Miss Tara and the APA staff spend many hours behind the scenes every fall considering several factors for choosing the right costumes.  Here are four questions we ask ourselves when making selections:

• Is this costume age-appropriate for this particular class?
• Is this costume going to be flattering on all the different dancers in this class?
• Will this costume go well with the music we’re considering?
• Will this costume coordinate with the choreography we have in mind for this class?

We have to get a strong YES from each question in order to choose that costume, so suffice it to say that making selections is not an easy task!  Although it is time-consuming and overwhelming at times, it is worth all of the work to ensure that our APA dancers look and feel their very best onstage at recital.