Dance belt

For other belts, see Belt.

A dance belt is the name for a kind of specialized functional thong undergarment product which is generally worn by a male ballet dancer to support their genitalia. This is because (1) various choreographic moves could otherwise result in pain or possibly even injury to the groin parts, and (2) body-hugging costumes would otherwise reveal a bulging contour.

The dance belt is designed to snuggly support in particular the testes away from the exceedingly painful and potentially injurious squeezing pressure that could otherwise result from the wearer's inner thighs coming into contact with the male anatomy during certain rapid dance movements, for example scissor-like motions of the legs. Both this physical and the visual considerations can potentially detract from the male dancer's performance. The visual result is a smooth, non-descript shape with no tell tale lines or anatomical revelations.

A dance belt resembles a thong undergarment in design but has a wide waist belt so the waist is not pinched in. The color of the supporter that is chosen to be worn is usually similar to that of the dancer's skin tone, such as fleshy beige or dark brown. This makes its presence barely if at all visually noticeable from the front under a pair of tights (which, for males, is generally worn over a leotard top if the latter is worn; whereas female ballerinas usually wear their leotards over their tights).

A white dance belt might be worn beneath white tights to minimize 'show through' under the intense stage lights while a black one would be worn beneath dark tights. Lighter colors of tights, such as white, light grey, creme and beige can be more revealing of and make more conspicuous the delta shaped detail of the male dancer's genital area since the shape and contour of his appendage tend to stand out more under bright lights for stage performance, accentuated as they are by shadowy depression and high relief. Darker tights on the other hand tend to be less revealing (when they have a flat finish to them rather than a shiny one that catches the light more).

Some types of leotards are cut in the back without material for the seat, resulting in double leg holes separated simply by a thin, narrow strap for passing between the buttocks, thus providing dance belt-like support that is built in.

Dance belts are designed so that the thickened elastic material that forms the edges of the front triangle rest in depressed areas of the pelvis and so that the wide waist band does not obviously pinch in the waist noticeably - so that it does not show up as raised lines or spoil the smooth outline line of the dancer's body visible beneath the leotard costume.

Dance belts are comfortable enough to wear when properly sized, fitted and once worn-in. When properly positioned within the garment, the male anatomical parts are held closely and firmly to the abdomen in a raised (pointed upward) attitude rather than in a hanging attitude as for an athletic supporter (jock strap) (although variations are possible for both types of genital support devices.) At the same time, the material stretches thus allowing for free, unrestricted movements required for dance.

Though most dance belts are of a thong-back design, some manufacturers produce full seat dance belts. These types are, however, less aesthetically pleasing as they cause panty lines to be visible through the tights. Nowadays, the front triangular support pouch can be constructed simply of a couple of layers of spandex fabric (or similar); or else there can also be a thin layer of very light non-bulky padding material quilted in, the latter of which is to effect a smoothed, discrete bulge, thus obscuring any wayward anatomical details (such as circumcision). Regardless, there is generally no seam down the front of the pouch as there usually is with conventional thong underwear for men. The reason being that such a seam would be visible beneath clinging tights.

Dance belts can be worn by active males wearing snug, form fitting (and often stretchy) clothing dancing other than ballet, as well as by those who are figure skaters, trapeze artists and equestrians, and for reasons that, similarly, relate to both aesthetics (look) and injury prevention. In the case of the male rider, a painful injury could result from the crushing impacts between him and his bouncing saddle.

Some choreographers have prescribed that the male dancer(s) wear only a dance belt when performing the work in public.