I urge you all to take the time to read this wonderful article written by a ballet dancer, nutritionist, and dear friend of mine:
"I have always been told by friends, family members, and others not particularly familiar with the physical demands of ballet that I am thin, in-shape, and have a healthy-looking body. Outside of the ballet studio I agree with them. I am able to walk outside and feel proud about the way I look. I feel amazing. I feel healthy. When I walk into the studio, my opinions about my apparently “thin, in-shape body” are completely warped. The extreme pressures to be thin and “perfect” overwhelm me.
Many dancers struggle with the pressures of being thin. George Balanchine, co-founder of America’s first world class ballet school and choreographer of over 400 works for the stage, set the standard for the “perfect ballet body”. He favored dancers with long, lean legs with slight hypertension and feet with high insteps and arches. He wanted dancers with long necks, small heads, perfect turnout, and extreme flexibility at a height of around 5’6. Balanchine often even said that he wanted to see a dancer’s bones and little to no body fat. As little as 2% of people actually have this body type. Still, dancers everywhere are pressured by instructors, artistic directors, and even themselves to achieve that perfection. Oftentimes, this is attempted through disordered eating and malnutrition, essentially affecting the dancer’s overall ability to perform well.
I remember constantly comparing myself to the bodies of other dancers. It was something I did without even knowing it, but I couldn’t stop it. No matter how well I danced, I always felt it would look better if I had that “perfect body”. I envied over dancers with amazing bodies. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I was always told we have to look light, fragile, and lengthy. It’s obvious that thinner dancers with long legs have more appealing lines. I often tried to lose weight to achieve those beautiful lines. I began to realize, however, that it wasn’t the weight keeping me from achieving perfect lines. It was my short legs, long torso, and curves. It was genetics; something completely out of my control.
Many dancers, and even instructors or artistic directors, mistake the pressure to have lengthy, beautiful lines and a light, airy appearance as a requirement to be unnecessarily thin. Dancers believe extreme thinness will make their dancing look more beautiful, airy, and dainty. In order to achieve faster results, dancers often result in disordered eating such as anorexia and bulimia. This leaves them malnourished. Without proper nutrients, there is nothing to provide energy to the dancer’s body. We can’t help our genetics. We can’t help how our bones form or how fat distributes on our bodies. Despite outside and personal pressures to be extremely thin, dancers must realize it is the dancers’ artistry, technique, and overall passion for the movements that makes them appealing to an audience. Wouldn’t you rather see a healthy-looking dancer with artistry and passion for the art than a malnourished dancer struggling to find the energy to even perform?”
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