glitterfairy is something of a stagename. I have a very sparkly history when it comes to big dance performances... lol (and my overenthusiastic nature extended to both the dancing and the glitter, so... haha!)
Most dancers will use glitter at some point, however normally it is fine glitter, or even that glitter gel. The former tends to come off as a kind of shimmer because of the small size of the particles (and that's if it doesn't fall off), the latter tends to only give very sparse sparkle due to the low glitter density. Many dancers put in more glitter, but it's not the most comfortable thing to apply, and the gel often dries hard.
Both often looks like freckles on the skin, and too much in the hair just looks like a bad dye job.
Fast forward to the Hornsby Girls High camp, School Spec circa... 2002?
In almost every photo of us, you can actually see the glitter on our skin. There's a hell of a lot of it
We don't use no wimpy fine glitter. We're using that 1mm diameter (that's big for glitter), silver HOLOGRAPHIC glitter, bought in BULK. The process works like this - cover yourself in vaseline, and then cover yourself in this big, shiny, holographic glitter (don't forget your eyelids, but don't get it in your eyes!). Then quickly put on hairspray, and put lots of the glitter in your hair. It is extremely likely during this process that the glitter will get all over your costume, too. That's great! You'll also shed a bit of a glitter trail, and attract a LOT of attention from other dancers (who either aren't game enough to put on so much glitter but are envious anyway, or who weren't ingenious enough to think of using vaseline and LOOSE glitter for optimum glitter density and light reflectance. Yes, it's now a science!).
*I must admit that I was not "the" glitteriest person at my school. Oh no. That was reserved for Micky ("glitterball") who might have been the clever cookie to start using vaseline and loose, chunky holographic glitter in the first place. I'm not even sure if I was the second sparkliest... but I remember nabbing "glitterfairy" as my own, and time spent with state dance company boys (who loved it) made the name stick.
One of my best glitter festival experiences was at Met North Dance Festival in 2002 or 2003. the dressing room had a wooden floor, and after we'd all glittered up on our last night we poured all our remaining glitter onto a heap on the floor and took turns to slide in it. Whooooo!
I haven't glittered up since sometime in 2003 and kind of miss it... but such copious amounts of glitter are really only appropriate for things like School Spec because a) the venue is MASSIVE and you need all the help you can get to stand out amongst the 200-800 people sharing the tarquet at Sydney Entertainment Centre and b) the vibe at School Spec is totally electric.
I've never worn glitter for 'straight' performances, but I have another vice there (well, with glitter too but the glitter is more attention-grabbing). My other dance nickname at school was "Blusher Queen", for obvious reasons... I would walk around with my blusher in my hands, scrutinising all the girls. If I didn't think they had enough blush on I'd call them over and say "you don't have enough blush on! STAND STILL!" *puts on heaps more blush* "ok. You're done now. Next!" Haha. It got to the point where in my last years in the dance group, they only had to see me with blush in my hands, and they'd all start yelling "oh no! Lynn's got blusher in her hands! SOMEONE TAKE IT AWAY FROM HER!", and "OMG THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED! LYNN JUST ASKED ME IF SHE HAD TOO MUCH BLUSH ON!!!" etc etc
Ah, such good times... *tear*
"glitterfairy" sounds cooler than "blusher queen", though
PS: I'm feeling so sentimental about not performing as much as I used to now :'( I miss all the craziness and the glitter and the pressure and the adrenaline and the major highs and the lack of sleep...
