The list author says: "A list of must-haves for the tiny dancer in your life. We're given a lot of dance-related stuff, and we've bought a fair amount, too. This is the list of our favorites. High quality things we'd get again.
Two books which now may only be available used but are worth tracking down, and a few ballet videos to get you started. I knew nothing about ballets when I realized I had a Tiny Dancer on my hands, so spent some time researching and reading reviews to find ballets that did not feature challenging subjects and would meet my Tiny Dancer's requirements for inspiring costumes and a story she could relate to.
The Little Humpbacked Horse is a wonderfully retro Russian ballet from the 60s. The costumes for the horse, firebirds, and sea creatures inspire a tremendous amount of creative play. I especially love the groups of six or eight dancers working together to be a sea urchin. Great for boys and mixed groups.
Giselle we also found particularly good for Tiny Dancer inspiration. This is a great one for fairy-tale like costumes AND features TWO Prima Ballerinas. In fact, the entire second half is almost entirely ballerinas in pretty white longish flowy skirts rather than tutus.
We hope this list inspires other Tiny Dancers and their entourages!"
"Referred to me by my local librarian, who saw my daughter dancing "like a swan" through the toddler section. Now one of her favorite bedtime stories."
"Another of my daughter's top favorites, this book has taught her to recognize the letters/word DANCE. She loves to name all the body parts, too. So simple it's brilliant, and worth tracking it down used."
"The perfect introduction to more formal ballet--short acts with interludes of giggling toddlers running around in tutus, just like yours. The bonus segments on The Positions and Dance of the Baby Swans are great, too, although I often wish it had a setting for infinite repeat so I didn't have to keep pressing the button for Someone."
"This is not a DVD you can watch sitting down. It begs to be danced with. And for your little dancer, who would never consider sitting down for any video, it is the perfect speed. Starts with ballet, but talks about lots of other kinds of dance as well."
"This is a great ballet to choose if your Tiny Dancer is a boy or has a play date with a boy. The Russian cast is very male, lots of acrobatics and jumping, and the hero of the story is, well, a HE-ro."
"One of the ballerinas is an angel with these tiny wings attached to her back. We used a white velvet and tulle former Christmas dress and two clothespin wings to create our own Giselle costume, or "Bizelle" as Tiny Dancer calls it."
"The perfect alphabet book for a Tiny Dancer, with wonderful illustrations for a very young toddler, as well as an introduction to more complicated concepts for an older toddler to preschooler. Definitely one they can grow with."
