For a woman, a bag is a part of her. They're statement pieces, they're perfect for carrying all of the important and not-so-important bits and pieces with her everywhere she goes. With ballet dancers it's the same, a bag is an essential accessory, or rather part of the basic equipment present on every rehearsal and event.
Did I say bag? I meant bags, because aside from the main one there's the necessity to bring along ladies garment bag to keep the leotards, skirts, dresses and costumes wrinkle and stain free. After all, ballet is visual, and the last thing a dancer needs is drawing the attention for the wrong reason.
What's great about the ladies garment bag design is it's available in a variety of sizes and styles, providing storage for additional accessories, tights and legwarmers thanks to the many pockets besides the main one for the clothing. The transparent design saves you time since you don't get to open up the bag to actually see what's in it, so it makes a good investment.
There are of course other essentials that aren't so obvious, like the necessity to always have a pair of new pointe shoes, and an extra pair of old ones just in case because you never know when your other old ones are going to fail you. Additionally, flat shoes are helpful with barre work so they make a third pair.
Aside from this, it's great to alternate between the pairs whenever dancing to prevent wet shoes and the risk of getting foot fungus. More on the subject of feet, due to the specific practices and moves, feet go through a great deal of stress, and there's always a risk of strains and fractures, which makes foot care one of the basics to have around.
This includes moisturisers and balms as much as it does bandages, medical tape, nail clippers, epsom salts and massage balls. Soaking in the salts is great to reduce the swelling and massages are ideal both before and after the dancing, to stretch out and help speed up the healing process of all the stress. Since corns are likely to appear, it's good to carry and wear the proper shoe padding too.
Lastly, sewing kit. Whether it's the clothing or the shoes, wearing and tearing is a certainty given the way of the movements, which is why it's recommended to make sewing kits part of the equipment pieces for quick repairs. A dancer is always prepared!
