A ballet is a story in which the ballerina dance tells a story. A ballet dancer’s makeup must accentuate and enhance the natural shape of her eyes. This allows the audience to follow her gaze and emotion. It also allows the audience to see if her eyes are open or closed and see where she is looking as she dances.
As you’re preparing for your upcoming performances I would like to share with you my best tips on how to use dance makeup to create beautiful ballerina eyes. Ballerinas are known for being beautiful, and there is something especially stunning in the way dance makeup is used. Eye makeup for ballet dancers can be intimidating at first, but by following a few simple steps you will be applying ballet eyes like a professional dance makeup artist in no time!
In order to create the perfect ballet eye look you must first understand the basics of eye contouring. Contouring is to use a dark eye shadow to create dimension. Dance makeup artists use three main types of contouring. Feel free to use these tricks together or separately depending on the look you are trying to achieve.
Contouring:
1) Starting at the lash line, blend the contour shadow up past the crease and towards your brow bone, allowing the shadow to fade along the way.
2) On the outer third portion of your eyelid, apply the contour shadow in a sideways c or v shape.
3) Apply your contour shadow in the eyelid crease.
A professional ballet dance makeup look can be a challenge (especially for those with small lid space), but it can be done well with practice just like dancing!
Follow these important dos and don’ts to help you create beautiful, expressive ballet eyes. These important tips will help you whenever you’re doing makeup for dance.
The Dos:
1) DO use warm, neutral, earth-toned eye shadows. These colors look great under all stage lighting colors and will accentuate your skin and eyes.
2) DO apply your dance makeup heavily enough so that it can be seen up to the first 8-12 rows (approximately).
3) DO use false lashes to enhance the shape of your eyes (I always keep an extra pair in my makeup kit, for emergencies).
The Don’ts:
1) DON’T use black liquid eyeliner under the eyes! Instead use an eye shadow with an angled makeup brush or, if you must, use an eye pencil.
2) DON’T forget to blend, blend, blend you’re a ballerina not a rock star!
3) DON’T use black liner on the inside of your lower eyelid -your eyes will look much smaller. Instead, use a white pencil highlighter on the inside rim of your lower eyelid to make your eyes big and bright.
Try out these dance makeup tips and create your own beautiful, expressive ballerina eyes.
A ballet is a story in which the ballerina dance tells a story. A ballet dancer’s makeup must accentuate and enhance the natural shape of her eyes. This allows the audience to follow her gaze and emotion. It also allows the audience to see if her eyes are open...
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