Duringdancerecital season, we often hear two common questions from parents:“Why does my child need to wear makeup?”“Why does she have to wear so much makeup? She’s too young.”
We have been in your shoes. Your concerns about applying makeup to your child’s face, especially your toddler,are real.No worries.We are here to help you understand the top reasons why it is important for your dancer to wear stage makeup.
Although there are 4 top reasons why stage makeup is a necessity for all dance performances, there is one main purpose for stage makeup. Dancers wear stage makeup to enhance their facial features to be visibly clear to the audience. Simply put, stage makeup is the only way we can clearly see your dancer’s face from the audience.
In this blog post, we are sharing thetop4reasons why stage makeup is essential for all dance performances.
Once you finish reading, we promise that you will be less hesitant to have stage makeup applied to your dancer’s face.
1. Stage Makeup Enhances Dancers’ Facial Features
It is not uncommon for dance moms and dads to have some reservations about having makeup applied to their child’s face.It is extremely important to understand that without stage makeup, a dancer’s facial features will not be defined or visibly clear to the audience.
Stage makeup creates a clear face from a distance.Unlike everyday regular makeup, stage makeup is more dramatic so that the dancer’s facial features are more pronounced.
Tips:There are some basic components of stage makeup that you will need for your dancer: makeup primer, foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush, and lipstick.Make sure yourstage makeup is hypo-allergenic, waterproof, and long-lasting.
2. Distance CanDiminishthe Facial Features and Expressions of a Dancer
Have you ever attended an orchestra performance or a music concert and noticed that the individuals performing appearedto be faceless people in action?
If your dancer does not have on stage makeup, this is how your dancer will appear on stage—as a faceless dancer.Theatre, concert hall, and auditorium stages are huge. These stages are also elevated and are a distance away from the audience.The distance from the stage to the first row can be up to 100 feet. Whether you and your family are sitting in the 13throw or in the balcony, you want to witness your dancer’s joy, excitement, nervousness, and/or shyness.Stage makeup will help your dancer’s facial features look bigger, brighter, and more pronounced on stage.
Tips:Eyeliner is used to emphasize the dancer’s eyes to help them stand out from afar. Both female and male dancers wear eyeliner to define their eyes.For male dancers, eyeliner is applied in basic form.
For female dancers, eyeliner can be applied in basic form or with a wing to make the eyes look more feminine.Apply blush in a red or pinkcolorwith a shimmer toneto highlightyour dancer’scheekbones. Also, use eyeshadow colors that have a shimmer tone.
3. Stage Lighting Can Wash Out a Dancer’s Face
If your dancer does not have on stage makeup and they are performing on a stage with bright, shining lights, their face and facial expressions will be washed out and hard to see.You want the stage lighting to enhance your dancer’s facial features, not wash them out.For dance performances, stage lightingworks to highlight and place emphasis on where the audience should place their eyes. Stage lighting also works to set the mood or tone of the dance.
Dancers are storytellers who project words and emotions through movement. For dancers to properly tell the story to the audience, they will need their entire bodies, including their facial expressions, to be visibly seen.
But, withbright lights shining on the stage, a dancer without stage makeup will appear washed out and faceless and the story would be misunderstood, lost, and left untold.
Tips:Stage lights are very intense and hot! Use a makeup primer to make sure your dancer’s makeup will last for several hours throughout dress rehearsal, awaiting backstage, and performing on stage.
4. Dance Costumes Can Overshadow Your Dancer’s Beautiful Smile
Dance costumes are over the top! Tutus, big bows, and fringes are only a few of the many extravagant features attached to costumes.Dance costumes are created to “wow” the audience.If your dancer does not have on stage makeup, their costumes will easily overshadow their beautiful smile and cute little face.
Can you imagine your dancer on stage in an extraordinary costume with bright lights shining down on them and they did not have on makeup?That’s correct!Once again, you would have a faceless dancer on stage.
This is not something you would want. Without stage makeup, your dancer’s facial features will disappear behind their costumes and the bright stage lights.Stage makeup is a part of your dancer’s costume.
Tips:Red lipstick is a staple for all dance performances. Female dancers wear red lipstick to make the shape of their lips visibly defined from the audience.Without red lipstick, the audience will not be able to see the dancer’s mouth, including their smile. How awkward?Male dancers wearbrown or nude lipstick to help define their lips.
In Conclusion
For first time dance moms and dads, we understand that the initial acknowledgment that your dancer must wear stage makeup may cause some concern.Just remember that stage makeup is key in enhancing and highlighting the facial features and expressions of your dancer to be seen from a distance.
Now that you understand the importance of wearingstage makeup, we want to share a before and after photo of our young dancer without and with stage makeup applied to her face.
Take the time to reflecton the difference of having a bare face (before photo) versus a made-up face (after photo) on a huge, brightly lit stage.
When applying stage makeup, do not shy away from using beautiful, fun, and bright colors.
It is always great to hear from you.Comment below to share your dancer’s experience with stage makeup.
