The fourteenstep is the initial round Silver solo dance at Adult Nationals. I have no clue what to wear! Tangos are easy, waltzes are easy, even foxtrots. But marches? I was thinking maybe something with a military vibe. Help please!

I'm doing Bronze, so I have the easy waltz and tango! But if I were costuming a 14-step, I think I'd use strong colors (primaries rather than pastels, for instance). A military or marching band style certainly could work, although I don't think you have to be too literal. More tailored than fluffy. Maybe the look of a fitted waist-length jacket over a dance-length skirt? That's pretty much what the dancers wear in the movie version of "The Music Man" for "76 Trombones" - sort of an old-fashioned majorette. Maybe just a plain dress with braiding as trim?

I think a military vibe certainly works though maybe overdone (how many salutes have you seen with the 14-step??). I agree with Clarice - strong colors, clean lines, maybe a jacket thing - I'll probably go for something like that only less obviously 'military'.

Drum majorette is just what I was thinking.

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you could go red white and blue.

That's generally what we've always done in my general area - some sort of combination with red/white/blue. Usually it's one of the colors (like my friend's was blue, mine was red) as the base color with accents of white and/or the other color. For example, my friend's was blue with red an white laces up the back. Mine was red with blue crystals.

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

I have a marching band uniform-looking dress from an old synchro program. This thing is HIDEOUS!!! I could totally cheese this dance up by wearing this. It's red material with gold sparkles and has long sleeves, gold/white marching band jacket looking stuff sewn onto the front. The skirt isn't full dance length but it's longer than a freestyle skirt (mid-thigh) and sits flat. I might revamp it into a halter with nude sleeves and transplant the white cuffs on the ends of the sleeves and I'll have to take it in at the waist. Right now it's just WAY too much red sparkly material and it's too big (the sleeves are really baggy too), but that change might help break it up a bit and make it more flattering. I will not wear it as-is.

I'm just afraid I wouldn't be able to take myself seriously wearing this thing. I felt kind of stupid when I had to wear it for synchro, but at least in synchro there is safety in numbers because the rest of the team looks just as stupid. Ha ha. But all it's going to do is rot in my closet, so while I have the chance to use it again this year, I might as well. I doubt I'll ever compete the 14 step again.

I also have a good dress for the tango (black lace over red), so I'm all set!

If I decide not to go with the cheesy dress, I have a red halter dress that will work just fine, too. I'm going to see how I feel in the cheesy dress at Mids and how it goes over. On one hand, I don't want it to look as if I'm not taking this seriously, but on the other, costuming is an important part of expression. If I feel like a total fool or the judges I know say they don't like it, I'll scrap it for ANs. But Vesperholly--if I don't need my red dress, you can borrow it. I'll know what I'm doing after adult mids. My dress I'm using for interp might work ok for you too, it's turquoise with purple mesh over it so it comes off as a bluish purplish color. It's normally my blues dress but I briefly thought about wearing it for the 14 because it's bright and too awesome to stay home in my closet during ANs...but then I picked my interp music around it. LOL.

What if, for whatever reason, the setup doesn't allow time for costume changes? Doesn't the last skater in the first dance go first in the second dance? That kind of makes me nervous. I have a works-with-anything black dress I can use if that happens and just stick a rose in my hair for the tango, but part of the fun of dance is getting to wear different costumes!!

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I think the 14 Step works better if you DON'T take yourself too seriously. When my daughter competed this she had this silly intro that involved a salute but once she got over herself and accepted it was a little silly - she did very well.

j

Right, I should be fine with this. I have a hard time not smiling when I skate, so being serious in the Tango and in my free program (Flamenco music) usually doesn't happen. When I skated synchro and we had more serious programs, I'd have one expression on my face when we were facing the judges and totally smile or make faces at my teammates or friends in the stands (STORMY!) when we were facing the other direction.

My coach isn't big on the marching band dress, although he hasn't seen it. I promised him I'll try it out for mids and see how it goes. But I don't bring him to competitions anyway so it doesn't really matter what he thinks

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

That was awesome. I wish I had a picture of that. I was watching AN from Icenetwork earlier this week, and when I watched your group, I don't think I knew you WAVED to the judges when you skated out!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Ha ha I do that all the time now. At Buckeye there were only a few judges so if you did 4 events (two of whom are always at our test sessions, 1 is actually my club's test chair and another is the wife of one of the other adults at my rink), you had some combination of the same panel all day long, so by my last event it was like "Hi, I'm back!" We're there to have fun, right?

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

What ELSE are we there for?! Maybe I will wave at NYI!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

If you do, I'll take a picture. And put it on Facebook for all the world to see.

I point at the judges in the beginning of my interp and I try to seduce them in my step sequence (when I'm not getting the steps in my interp mixed up with the ones in my free, that is). Perhaps me trying to be sexy really belongs more in the light entertainment/comedy category...but whatever.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything