Fabric Tunnels of love. Footless tights. Pin protectors. Adventure pants. Second skins. Cheerful muscle armor. Leggings.

Whatever you choose to call them, tights are a big part of a dancers day, and even their LIFE. They cover half our body, half the time!  Why do we choose to slide our toes through so many pairs of Lycra wondertubes?
I believe it boils down to these 5, specific reasons:

1. Leggings are a great way to show off what your pegs are up to: very handy for teaching, learning or performing dance moves.
2. Skirts seem to scold through their fabric folds: “stay upright”. Leggings are like, “let’s do a cartwheel!” “Let’s lie down comfortably, anywhere”. “Let’s ninja kick”.
3. Leggings are a lovely, 3D traveling canvas. Your crazy tights are a contribution to public art.
4. Plain yellow or green ones make you feel evermore like an insect, bright, fluttery, bumpy, lumpy and smooth.
5. Friends can enjoy stroking your leg, like a very long and affectionate cat

No pressure (btw, compression garments are nuts!)

While the Flashmob Troupe and Mix Tapes have a ball working on costumes for performances, there’s no pressure to dress up during Cassette classes. People come in every kind of outfit, from relaxed t-shirt and leggings, to “It’s my birthday / it’s Tuesday, so I’m wearing a full-length tutu (over my tights)”. I really enjoy matching my nail polish to my top and *real* acrylic earrings: this week, neon yellow.

Yes, all our classes are a fun opportunity to wear some beautiful / whacky fashion items. Those pieces that wait patiently in the wardrobe for their day in the sun, to glimmer under the fluoro lights of the dance studio. A fat white belt, wet look tights, and finally winter welcomes the leg warmers.

And the glorious sense of “I don’t have to”, seems to only serve to encourage us to have fun with our dance fashion.

Where to buy or find?
I get my leggings from the op-shop, regifted from friends, cheap ones on ebay, and more expensive but beautiful from Blackmilk, Captain Robbo, Dharma Bums, Bundarra (Indigenous company = very nice).

No we don’t have a range of Cassette tights, sorry folks.  If we did, they would be shiny lycra and available in blue, yellow or pink, and covered in little Cassette bolts.  Now the reason we don’t have some for you to buy, is because I cannot be assed finding a distributor and making arrangements.  Yet.

Meanwhile, I am in awe of this wild etsy maker, AliciaZenobia.  She doesn’t make tights so much as “Holographic Deep Blue Ocean Runner Bodysuits for Conversations with Whales and Mermaid Hunting”.  Hunting mind you.