It's officially mid-January in New England. That can only mean one thing- COLD! For a while, some of us in the area thought the chill would never really come, with temperatures in the 50's in December! That's almost unheard of, particularly in the area I live in. But the cold came in, and with it have come the familiar sounds of "I'm cold" from my students.
As a teacher, there is always the dilemma of deciding if you will allow your students to wear warm ups. Often, students are not well-equipped with warm-ups that will allow maximum view of their bodies. I see students with over-sized sweatshirts that go well below hip level. Students try to wear sweatpants that are bulky and will fall down if you roll up the pant leg. It prevents me from seeing their muscles, and can hide their bodies.
On the other hand, it can be tough for students to understand that they need to get their bodies warmed up immediately. Depending on the level of knowledge/technique that they are at, they often don't think to warm up before class. For my more advanced levels, I always give the speech that instead of chatting out in the lobby, they should be stretching, or doing exercises to get their muscles limber. When muscles are cold, they are often tighter, which raises the possibility of injury from improper warm up. Depending on the time frame in which I have the students, I can't always give them the extensive warm up that they may need, particularly if temperatures are at or below the freezing mark.
A way to rectify the situation is to allow them to wear warm ups. However, often times, they warm their bodies up with the warm ups on, but then when it comes time take them off, their bodies have to readjust and warm up all over again. In my eyes, this makes the warm ups essentially obsolete.
Now, as an example, I am no better. I am notorious for having cold hands that make my students recoil every time I touch their bare shoulders to correct them. Therefore, I am usually wrapping myself in sweatshirts, long sleeved t-shirts, sweatpants, and socks. Pretty much anything I'm not "supposed" to wear, I wear. And there's always that student that has to point it out- "Why can't I wear my sweatshirt? You're wearing yours!" My typical response is that I earned my right over the years to wear whatever I like and I've been in their position. I tell them I wasn't allowed to wear warm-ups, which for the most part is true. I also like to tell them that they are the ones that are working, and I am not. They are the ones whose muscles and body parts need to be seen- not necessarily mine.
Over the years, I've developed the rule that if it's particularly cold out, I will allow warm ups through rond de jambes. Mostly, I will allow them ONLY through plies. If it's in a lyrical or jazz or contemporary technique class, I will allow them through the beginning stretch. This way, they get to wear their warm ups to kick start the initial blood flow without the adverse effects of wearing them too long before the body gets used to it and has to readjust.
What's your favorite warm up clothing? As a dancer do you like to wear bulky warm ups? As a teacher do you like to allow them?
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