I was hopeful, but the article left quite a lot to be desired. Before I go any further, I want to applaud the dancers who spoke out. It needs to become more commonplace for dancers to use their voices. You should feel empowered to speak out against the wrongs you experience whether they’re directed towards you or those around you. Be a champion for yourself and others.

For me, one of the most disturbing lines in the piece came quite early, when the author explained that weight can, “interfere with a seamless, sculptural quality.” Thus distorting line. This article was about the ballet body as it pertains to those in the professional realm of dance. When dancers are training at a professional or pre-professional level, the shape of their bodies will be “seamless” and “sculptural”. Lines will be clear, beautiful and aesthetically pleasing because muscles are shaped by ballet.

Even if the body itself is larger, the shape of the muscles will achieve the desired line.

Ballet bodies based on the number on the scale…

An unfortunate and triggering aspect of the NYT article was the sharing of dancer weight by the numbers and how the number has changed over the course of the pandemic. It shared a very small weight change. Many dancers have experienced a much more significant shift in weight. Dancers have gained weight due to the change in activity level, food consumption, stress, emotional eating, or any combination of those factors or others.

If your body has changed, it’s ok. You don’t have to fear weight gain.

What’s healthy for you? Be honest.

“Appropriately, Kathryn Morgan’s recent experience at Miami City Ballet was included. Kathryn said, “I went in — full, open disclosure — saying I have this particular condition,” she said in an interview. “This is how my body is. I am not ever going to be the smallest one onstage.”

“Once she arrived, her body was constantly criticized.

There needs to be a shift wherein Artistic Staff at a company are willing to accept dancers when the dancers themselves know they’re at their personal best. If you say, this is me at my healthiest, that’s where your company should want you to stay.

Your body is a ballet body…

One of my favorite contributions to the article came from former Miami City Ballet dancer, Chloe Freytag. She said, “You can have insane stamina, powerful strength and a really different looking body than somebody else next to you who has the same stamina and the same strength. I do think we can change the standard of how we identify a qualified dancer.”

Amen.

When you’re at your personal best, you can feel it. However, it’s not likely to look like the personal best of the dancer next to you.

Schools are not “protective bubbles”.

The writer said that once you go pro, the protective bubble of school fades. I wish dance schools were protective bubbles. It would be so beautiful if they provided a positive environment for self-acceptance and growth. Some do. So many do not.

To start to reform ballet, why not go to schools first? Remove the school directors and teachers who perpetuate damaging messages. Parents can support this change by removing their children from schools that don’t let go of the dated, destructive approach to body shape and size.

No comments in passing…

I really appreciated the contributions from New York City Ballet Artistic Directors Wendy Whelan and Johnathan Stafford. It’s useful to see how one of the biggest companies in the world plans to make adjustments. Concerns will no longer be brought up in passing. So often, dancers are told in very nonchalant, mindless ways that something has changed and is no longer “acceptable” about their bodies.

If there’s concern about a dancers well-being due to changes in their body, it’s reasonable to have a supportive conversation. What shouldn’t happen is shaming, loss of roles, or accusations. Why not approach changes from a place of curiosity? You could say, “We’ve noticed some changes. Is everything ok?”

If you struggle to accept your body in dance, you’re not alone.

One thing was surely clear: few are immune to the aesthetic body pressures in dance. To hear from dancers at the top of the field confirms that these insecurities run deep. Body pressure is ingrained in dance culture. Even the dancers you might assume have no worries, worry about this.

For more thoughts on this article, check out this video where I get into all the little details including some thoughts on how to move forward in a productive way.

The post “What Is a Ballet Body?” appeared first on The Whole Dancer.

Currently I have a handful of clients who have gotten the direct feedback to lose weight. Their ages range from 15-24. In addition to those dancers, there’s another group who have been told more indirectly that they should trim down. Whether you conduct “weigh-ins” or not (one would really hope this is not a modern practice but I can say it surely is) telling a dancer she needs to lose weight is 9 times out of 10 more damaging than productive.

Making a general comment to an entire class is at times just as bad. Most dancers will assume you’re speaking directly to them.

I received a message just today on instagram from a dancer who is concerned that her roommate is purging and she doesn’t know if she should do something about it. Rather than being part of the problem as teachers and artistic staff, wouldn’t it be nice to be a part of the solution?

Dancers will go to extremes.

A dancer can easily get it in her head that the only thing holding her back from the next career step is her weight. Dancers are more prone to eating disorders than the average female. Tutu Thin author, Dawn Smith – Theodore shared the stat that 1 in 5 dancers has an eating disorder while 1 in 100 non-dancers has one.

When you weigh your dancers in and expect them to hit a certain number, you’re creating an environment where they’re constantly on edge and living in fear. They’re not going to create a positive relationship with food and their bodies and that damage can last a lifetime.

If a weigh-in determines roles and compensation, dancers adopt such practices that we might only attribute to wrestlers or jockey’s who have a specific weight they must meet to compete. These practices result in temporary loss of water weight, dehydration and can damage digestion and blood sugar.

Wouldn’t it be better to have dancers who are at a healthy weight that they can maintain? Vs. dancers who are struggling to keep their bodies at a number you desire…

It’s interesting to me that Artistic Staff assume that the public wouldn’t be open to seeing greater diversity on stage. I think in fact, they might be happy to see that. When people bring young girls to the ballet wouldn’t it be nice if they saw role models of various sizes?

I understand the argument for the sake of the men who partner female dancers that they should be a weight that can be lifted without great strain which is why I advocate for a healthy weight. Dancers will likely not be performing at their best if they are indeed overweight but where’s the line?

When it comes to partnering, shouldn’t there be some responsibility put on the men to be stronger? Perhaps focus on working with your men on weight training to enhance their partnering skills. Asking a man to work on strength is a much more reasonable request that asking a woman to drop to a weight that might not be healthy for her body.

I reached out to Ballet Theatre of Indiana Artistic Director, Stirling Matheson for some partnering perspective on female weight and the responsibility of men in partnering. He said…

“The first thing I’d say is that of you can only lift an underweight dancer, you are too weak. A male dancer isn’t a powerlifter, so the entire gamut of human is obviously not something one can or should train for, but lifting a variety of athletic body types is the job.

The type of lift also changes how I’d think about that. It can be easier to do an up-down lift like a entrechat six or a saut de chat with a larger partner that has more power than a smaller one with the ‘lift me, I’m tiny’ attitude.

Casting has to be decided by comparing the strength of the men with the weight of the women if it’s going to work. When it comes to weight in general, I think it’s a lot like a car. Performance comes from the power-to-weight ratio. Adding or subtracting weight can be good (depending on situation) as long as it creates a more complete package.

I think the same hold true for dancers: if you’re losing weight and getting weaker you’re not improving anything. If you’re gaining weight and not gaining strength you’re not improving anything.”

When dancers are trying to lose weight rapidly in order to meet some deadline or goal you’ve set for them, they’re getting weaker.

There’s a way to approach dancers about their bodies without focusing on weight or weight loss, I shared my ideas on that in Dance Teacher Magazine. Mental health is not addressed enough in dance and the focus on weight and physical appearance can be big factors in the damage done to the psyche of a dancer.

As tempting as it is for me to name the names of some of the schools and companies who are contributing to this problem, I’ll refrain. You know who you are. I hope that with the downfall of prominent ballet heads for their abuses, we’ll start to recognize the abuse that is body shaming in ballet.

When you threaten a dancers role or a performance opportunity due to her weight you are inviting her to crash diet to an unhealthy extreme. If a dancer is starving herself to meet your aim she is not going to have energy to perform well on stage.

If you insist on making body suggestions, withholding pay until a dancer reaches  your goal for her is unreasonable. Even though this seems like it should be illegal and it sounds shocking and sensational, companies do it.

I can’t help but think about the capacity for growth and power dancers would have in their performances if they were fully supported and empowered by the higher ups. Things are shifting. Lets add the way we approach weight in dance to the list of things that needs to shift.

For clarity, I later made this video:

The post To ballet companies and schools – stop weighing your dancers! appeared first on The Whole Dancer.