Antares, your hair is cool!
You haven’t said whether or not you are in a state school or a private one. That might make a difference.
Consider talking to the choir director before you go over her head. It’s considerate to “go through channels.”
I go with the idea of a cheap wig. A good grade in your major is more important than the twenty bucks the wig would cost.
Why not pull it back in a conservative updo, so it’s not as obvious?
Antares I used to have that exact shade of hair!! Only mine had the faint purply thing going on because of the way my hair dyes. (I used Deepest Indigo to dye it)
Personally I think your shade is a lot less attention getting than the green. Most people automatically see it as black, and that’s probably how it will appear on TV. When my hair was that color I had no problems, despite there being a dress code at my school against funky colored hair (which is enforced. I knew a guy who had bright blue hair and was bugged by the principal daily before he finally changed it). Do as you plan, show up dressed appropriately and as Guin suggested, a conservative up-do or pulled back nicely. The hint of blue will be less noticable that way.
Flutterby, voice of experience with dark blue hair and conservative ways of breaking yet not breaking dress codes.
I second Zoe’s suggestion to speak with your director first, for two reasons. To start with, I’d inquire whether she includes your hair in the “wildly colored” category. She might only be thinking of Miss Greenlocks, in which case you’re fretting unnecessarily.
And then, as Zoe mentioned, it’s proper and expected to discuss issues with the person who brought them to you before going over that person’s head. Going straight to her superior could be taken as a significant insult, implying that you consider her unworthy of your concerns and/or unable to address them. Doing an “end run” like this could generate some animosity that will do no one any good. If speaking with her does not resolve the issue, then it would be appropriate to go up the “chain of command.”
Another thing to consider is that like clothing, but unlike eye color or facial features, piercings and hair dying are chosen by the wearer. People can’t change the color of their skin or the shape of their nose, and requirements to do so would be outrageous. But standards that apply to dress and to body decorations which are reversible and/or nonessential could seem reasonable to lots of folks. This issue, in this context, does not represent a great moral right.
Do NOT go talking to her superior about it without first talking to HER! Whatever good will she has toward you will go right out the window.
Talk to HER, one on one. Do not threaten, do not shout or even raise your voice. Listen to what she has to say.
Then decide whether to appeal to a higher authority.
As someone pointed out above, it is not illegal, or even immoral, to discriminate against someone for having their hair dyed a weird color. If you decide to fight this, don’t for heaven’s sake compare it to racial discrimination, or you will come across as a whiny teenager. Talk to the teacher, then if necessary to her boss, but remember that you’re asking them for a favor, not demanding your “rights”.
I think alot of the problem could be helped by also bun-ning your hair, and slicking it back.
Color doesn’t show as much when the hair is up, and gel makes it look darker if applied when the hair is damp.
One more quick thought. It’s entirely possible that your teacher is acting on orders from her superior, or concerns voiced by parents, etc. This may not be a lack of tolerance on her part…it may just be yet more beaurocratic bs she has to deal with.
Talk to her, and put the ball firmly in her court. Ask her if your hair is going to be okay (it doesn’t look to me like it’s a shocking/attention-drawing shade of blue, so it may be just fine). If she says no, ask her for suggestions about what to do with it, since dying it is not an option. Be polite and patient, until you can come to an agreement.
I’m a firm believer in the hanging-on-the-phone method of problem solving. This method involves the repetition, in various forms, of the phrase “Hmmm. I guess we have to figure out what to do about this, then.” Your main goal is to participate and to not have to change your hair; offer flexibility on all issues beyond that.
Best luck.
What Astro said. “Is this the hill you want to die on?” Perfect.
It’s good to have principles, but sometimes it’s better to just wear a wig.
Stuff I concur with:
Talk to the choir director. Find out if your hair’s actually a problem.
Be open to ways to conceal or minimize the effect of your hair other than re-dying it: scarf, wig, wearing it pulled back, etc.
Forget the whole ‘discrimination’ bit. IANAL, but my understanding of how it works is that discrimination is allowed except where specifically forbidden. I doubt that many places have bothered to write anything into the law about discrimination on the basis of hair color.
One thing nobody else has mentioned, that I can see:
The syllabus (says the former college prof) is akin to a contract between teacher and student. It sets the grading standards out in advance, for the student’s protection. The professor can’t add new requirements of any substance in midstream, then penalize your grade for failure to meet them.
IOW, my understanding is that the school would be on the wrong side of it if they said, “dye your hair back to a natural color, or your grade will suffer,” since the syllabus said nothing about hair color.
But as long as they don’t change your grade as a result, I think they’re free to do whatever they want in terms of either requiring you to conceal your blue locks during public and/or taped performances, or excluding you altogether from those performances. So be prepared to go along with any reasonable requests short of dying your hair again.
I agree with RTFirefly. Don’t emphasize the discrimination issue, because this isn’t discrimination as much as a desire for uniformity along lines of things that people can control. Go into the discussion with the director with a positive and flexible outlook, and put it all on her. Let her be the one who pushes this to the level where you have to go over her head.
Hmmm… a hat/snood is no go, a wig is too hot, your hair is too fragile from repeated dyeings. Sounds like you just want to make an issue about your appearance.
It also seems like you’re not clear on whether you need to participate in both the Friday and Saturday shows to meet your grade requirement for school.
Why don’t you slick your hair back into a tight bun with some gel and go ask her if you can take a miss on the night of filming or will that affect your grade? Your family and friends can make arrangements to attend the night you’re singing.
If you can’t miss, ask if your hair looks acceptable the way it is? You might also want to suggest that she place you at the end of the last row behind a large person. That way the camera person will have an easier time keeping you out of the filming.
I can understand you not wanting to dye your hair again (there’s only so much your hair can take) and I can understand not wanting to wear a wig. And to a certain extent, I can understand not wanting to wear a hat. But I see no reason why a snood would be a problem. I think a dark snood would be perfect. It’s not going to make your head hot and it will help disguise the color (which looks to me is mostly evidence in the hair’s highlights.
Also, what FTFirefly said. You don’t know if your hair is garish enough to have been considered a problem yet. Talk to the teacher.
I worked as an extra once on a TV show (“Murder She Wrote”), when I had purple and aqua highlights on my hair. I had worried that it would be a big deal and that maybe I’d get kicked off the show, but the wardrobe lady was totally cool with it. She just had me wear a scarf.
Don’t anticipate a big ordeal when no one has indicated that there will be one. Just talk to the teacher.
Well, okay, you screwed the pooch right here IMHO.
There is not an Administrator or Faculty member in the country who will exclude a child from performing because they have naturally occurring brown colored eyes. Similarly, if they happened to have bad acne or any other visual feature that separates them from their peers in a superficial way.
Being the white father of two Asian children who perform many times a year in musical groups, I’d say quite succinctly that when I was finished with that teacher, AND Department Head, their tenures would both be in serious peril. I would have bypassed the entire Administration in toto, and gone to the local Media. I’d also have stood before a School Board ( in the case of public schools ) and read them the instructions verbatim. No Faculty member or Administrator who excluded a child of a non-white variety will last long. People who pull shit like that have the singularly unpleasant experience of going to their Union for an attorney and being told, ’ babycakes, you are out there on your own. Title I prevents you from discriminating, and so have a nice life ’
You, OTOH, have made an alteration to your personal appearance. ( Doesn’t really matter if I think your alteration is fetching or not, the O.P. is about the problem with the Chorus ) I agree with the people posting into here who say that the Faculty member in question is within her rights, technically, to do what she did. Was it crappy timing? Yes it was. Since you are obliged to participate in THIS group, due to your Major and availability of other groups, you are being singled out. ( You, and Miss Green. ). I’d WAG that you have no legal leg to stand on, however. You are a student. When you go to a college at all, be it public or private, you enter into a contract. It’s rough to try to apply the same rights as you have outside of an educational situation to college.
I will admit here, I’m playing devil’s advocate. I think the teacher is an idiot, if she is really concerned about appearance, then she’d have been wise to HAND OUT a letter to EVERY student on Day 1, stating clearly what the personal grooming requirements were for the class. I’d bet she cannot do such a thing legally, and so is throwing this at you so late in the game that you’re afraid you might damage your Cume.
Gotta get Bricker or one of the other ace Doper Attorneys in here to offer up their thoughts. That’s the long-term. In the short-term, I’d go with the comments up there…and ask you to pick the battles that matter most to you. You love music and singing enough to be pursuing it at the College Level. ( I know a lot about this world, my wife is a Coloratura Soprano and majored in Voice at Indiana University ). You clearly take this pursuit seriously. Don’t let the narrowmindedness of one person ruin your overall experience.
My personal suggestion is for you to do what you need to, in order to comply. AFTER the television, get the tape in hand, write out a formal complaint, AND some suggestions as to how to best handle this kind of thing in the Spring Concert season, and ask for a meeting with A) the teacher, B) the Dept. Head, and C) A Student Ombudsman if your college offers such services. Turn this into a positive step situation. Perhaps that teacher will realize the old-world thinking that goes into her demands.
I’ve spent a ton of time around the cream of the crop of musicians, classical and otherwise. ( String quartet players, Yo-Yo Ma, Rock Stars, Acoustic /Folkies, etc ). Doesn’t mean shit how they look. You close your eyes, you open your ears, you are transported. Perhaps this woman needs to be reminded that even in a television situation, people are listening with great pleasure…to the music you are making.
Good luck, make sure you tell us how it turns out. Oh, one other thing you might try. I’m a professional cameraman, I really do know live t.v. better than most people out there. Suggest to the Choir Director that you be placed NOT in a hot light. If you are all lit with spots, there will be areas slightly brighter, and areas slightly darker. 150 people isn’t exactly The Messiah or Requiem Mass in the Civic Arena with 5,000 singers, but it’s a good sized crowd. While keeping you in your section, you might get placed out of the brightest lights. It’s insulting to YOU, I know. But it might appease her in the short term, until you can work on a more reasonable solution for the Spring Concerts.
Remember, hot water with lemon and honey, and breathe from the bottom !!! 
And, what is on the Program?
Cartooniverse
So how’d it go?