Not sure how to make a perfect bun? Follow these instructions and video tutorials to help you make a secure bun for ballet. A 'ballerina bun' hairstyle might look complicated, but as long as your hair is long enough to pull into a ponytail, the style is actually quite simple to achieve.
Follow along with ABT Principal Dancer Misty Copeland to learn how to make the perfect ballet bun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYYY4Prhs_4
This video is all about how to create a ballerina bun on 4C textured hair. Many people have trouble creating buns for ballerinas with thicker, courser, and coily hair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjCqr28fmyc
Creating a ballet bun on natural afro hair doesn't have to be difficult! This tutorial breaks down the steps to form and secure a bun with this unique hair texture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef0AW8oPLag
This tutorial by the Washington Ballet details how to make a secure ballet bun with short hair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBS-DfU-LFU
This video shows a simple step by step demonstration on how to do a classical ballet bun for children and adults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAWwHl4OE3Q
To make the bun you will need...
First, comb out your hair, making sure to smooth through any existing knots or tangles. Next, lightly dampen by spritzing with a spray bottle of water or smoothing down with wet hands or a comb.
The first step to making a perfect ballet bun is putting your hair up into a ponytail. Brush all the hair towards the center back of the head. Gather the hair into a tight ponytail and secure with an elastic band, ensuring that there are no bumps. To stop frizzy and fly-away hairs, apply a small amount of gel evenly from the roots to the ends of the hair, with your fingers or with the comb. Children with very curly, thick or fine hair may need their hair gelled or sprayed before securing into a ponytail. Brush or gel fringes back off the face and secure with bobby pins if necessary.
To make the ballet bun shape, hold the ponytail at the end and twist it firmly until it is all twisted into a rope. Then coil the ponytail into a flat circle around the hair elastic, continuing the coil in the same direction as the twist in the ponytail. This will stop the ponytail unravelling. Tuck the ends of the ponytail under the bun. Then place 3-4 hairpins around the bun to secure it, without taking your hands off the bun (see instructions for inserting hairpins). Next, place a hairnet over the bun. At this stage, you can make any adjustments to the shape of the bun. A finished ballet bun should be round and even in shape, and sit smoothly against the head.
The final step to creating a perfect ballet bun is securing the bun. Hold the pin at the closed end, with the prongs facing the center of the coil. Insert the prongs a little way into the edge of the bun, catching a small amount of the bun edge. Then turn the prongs in and back outwards to catch some of the hair outside the bun. Lastly, turn the prongs inwards again and push into the center of the coil. Insert as many pins as you need to all around the edges of the bun, until it feels secure. Loose hairs can be gelled or sprayed to help them stay put.
