Who on earth replied ">not really unless you have the fetish for it."
What a sad response!
The human is a complex being. Psychological factors add quite a bit to performance. Even with barre exercises in a group of middle-aged adult females I always do the exercises as if I am on stage, performing. That thought helps me make the exercise more precise.
I usually wear a grey unitard in these types of classes, as the light colour helps me see the muscles working in the mirror. I find black limits the visibility of my muscles. So my grey unitard is kind of a costume and I believe it makes me perform better, because the teacher notices more.
This is hardly a fetish. By definition, a fetish is an attachment to some object that is so intense you cannot perform sexually unless the object is present. Check the Amnerican Psychiatric Association's DSM-IV for this definition. A costume on stage, or in class, is hardly a fetish. My grey unitard has nothing to do with my sexual performance.
In my humble opinion, if you approach classes with the feeling that you are performing the role of Prince Charming, and put that polish into barre exercises, you will not only be exercising your muscles that are needed to perform on stage, but will be exercising that elegance and confidence that is needed to refine the fine movements that make ballet an art.
And further, in my humble opinion, any teacher who says that this "costume" and thought concept is a fetish probably produces students that looks like blobs of slob when they attempt to dance.
balletboy[/i]