What’s in a dancer’s starter kit? Or what’s the ultimate necessity to become a full-blown dancer? We asked the dancers in our community for their all-time favourites and top must-haves as a dancer, both tangible and not.
Kinjaz. Courtesy of Vibrvncy, ARENA Dance Competition
As a dancer, beginner or professional, there are a handful of essentials you need. From gallons of water to a reliable speaker and your favourite pair of durable shoes, the list is endless!
We asked our Fellas’ Night dancers what are the absolute must-haves that has served them well, and here’s what they said.
1. Comfort Comes First
You can never go wrong with a baggy T-shirt, nice pair of shorts or stretchy sweatpants. For Sabrina and Nadya, the right attire allows for ease of mobility. With clothing that won’t restrict your movements, it definitely helps in better step executions and greater reach. Plus, you can’t deny that the loose-fitting grunge style does exude a certain kind of swag. And it’s also fun to match your clothes to the dance style you’re doing. I don’t know about you, but it certainly makes me feel cooler — as they say, fake it till you make it!
If you’re looking for some vintage sportswear or pop culture streetwear pieces, check out Death Threads and Loop Garms.
2. Suitable Settings
Saufi, who’s been dancing for ten years, talked about knowing places and environments. From available dance studios and areas around *SCAPE to SMU’s underground Concourse and the Esplanade Underpass, we have our pick of the lot. For some, the atmosphere and surroundings matter. Based on your dance objective of the day, choosing the right location might just help with your mood, progress and creation process. It also helps if food, restrooms or local amenities are easily accessible. Personally, those empty and spacious spots around Changi Airport are my favourite.
Courtesy of The Heartlander Tourist
3. The Right Accompaniments
This could vary for a lot of us, but the key item we need is a good speaker for our trainings or sessions. There’s also the option of wireless earbuds for when you want to be immersed in the sounds and need the ‘music’ to stay put. (Or, also when everyone’s blasting their tracks as well.) Shafiyyah uses her OPPO Enco Buds and also recommends Bose’s Sport Earbuds or QuietComfort® Earbuds for the high-fidelity audio and secure fit
Courtesy of Bose
On the other hand, Arfan mentioned a simple notebook to pen down his drills or any tips and feedback received. It also allows him to visualise countings better, which helps in his self-training and advancement as a choreographer.
4. An Open Mind
Shafiyyah also added that it’s important for dancers to be able to accept feedback. As I’m sure we’ve all heard of this, especially during competitions or days of ‘deep talks’ around the circle, being receptive is truly the only way to improve and be better.
As for Hakimi, who’s been dancing since 2015, “a dancer must-have is an open mind to everything: your approach to creating or learning a choreography, or exposing yourself to all the genres you might come across.” He elaborates on how openness contributes to growth and doesn’t put limits on a dancer’s potential.
“You can also gain more knowledge and implement all the things you’ve learned…put it into your own style. If a dancer has that, they’ll be able to do anything in the long run.”
To that, I say touché indeed — explorative artistic inventions are by far the best and have produced the most impressive creations.
Courtesy of Pexels, cottonbro
5. Passion, Of Course
“As cliché as it sounds, it’s passion”
Regardless of what your personal interpretation of dance is and what dance means to you, intentions will always be prime. Stoney Brothers’ Elfy Hafiyan further shared: “Passion comes with purpose. For example, when you go for classes, your purpose is to learn. With purpose, it’ll help you set objectives for yourself and that’s where you will push yourself more to be a better dancer.” This surely applies to trainings and sessions too.
6. Extra Masks
Last but not least, in this current climate, an extra mask is a definite must. Even though some may categorise dancing as a ‘streneous activity’, we still have to don a mask while in dance classes and dancing in public areas. Obviously, it’s going to be really nasty and will lead to acne if we reuse the same sweat-drenched mask. It was also most certainly the one item that everyone agreed on unanimously.
In other exciting news, our dance initiative has officially launched last month! Happening every Saturday night via 90-minute classes, Fellas’ Night aims to continuously push individuality in choreographers with diverse styles and flavours. Check out Fellas Night here.
For more dance reads, click here to see how our homegrown professional dancers handled the difficulties of COVID-19 and manoeuvred through to a now recovering community
