As a developing line of inquiry I have been looking at body image in dancers and how the industry percieves the dancer and the asethetic standards imposed and what can be done to promote a positive body image for dancers and change attitudes towards it.
This is an actual advert that appeared on Spotlight and I would be interested in what others think. Thought it may generate some interesting thoughts!
Role: Tinkerbell(Female)
Description: "Amy Hubbard is looking for an actress/dancer approx 19 years old. Tinkerbell is a young female tree spirit with special powers. She becomes Peter's companion and communicates telepathically.
This is a very physical role and it is essential that the actress/dancer playing Tinkerbell can move eloquently. She must be able to act without speaking, therefore eyes, movement and facial expressions are vitally important.
Looking for a dancer ideally; a long, lithe figure with absolutely no womanly curves, flat-chested, ballet-dancer physique. She should not have any tattoos unless they are small enough to be easily concealed by make up. Unique beautiful face. Skinny/elfin/pixie-like. No height restrictions either way.Please suggest all ethnisities."
Questions:
Is it ethical to distinctly ask for a " skinny, flat-chested, ballet -dancer physique with absolutely no womanly curves"?
Do you think this advert breaks the rules or do you think a casting director should be able to specify so specifically the requirements in body image terms so you don't waste your time applying if you don't meet that strict criteria?
Doesn't the phrase " skinny, flat-chested, ballet -dancer physique with absolutely no womanly curves" suggest that's how a casting director perceives a ballet dancer should look like?Strangely she asks for all ethnicities to be suggested, no height restrictions and then a uniquely beautiful face, skinny, elfin and pixie-like? (Aren't pixies small?)Doesn't this make my question about the obsession with body image so relevant?And doesn't it give an indication why so many dancers have issues with their body image?
I want to play devils advocate here because I played Tinkerbell in panto (2009 Season) and I have a totally different body image to the requirements in this advert.
Perhaps the most famous image of Tinkerbell is that created and made universally popular by Disney.
Do I see boobs and a shapely bum?
Tinkerbell has been one of Disney's most important branding icons for over half a century and is generally known as 'a symbol of the magic of Disney'.
There is an urban legend that the original animated version of Tinkerbell was modelled upon Marilyn Monroe but actually Disney animator Marc Davies modelled her on actress Margaret Kelly who spent 6 months modelling in a swimsuit for Davies creating a real Tinkerbell with her facial expressions, body language and cute hour glass figure.
He illustrated Tinkerbell as a young, attractive, blonde-haired , big blue -eyed , white female with an hour glass figure.
I am not advocating all who play Tinkerbell should be as Davies drew her either. She may be far too sexually suggestive for some productions and each casting director as an image of his perfect casting? Obviously the casting director for my panto wanted a 'disney' body image for his Tinkerbell. It was panto and lots of little girls would be in the auditorium every night in their costume bought straight out of the disney store and so that is what the panto audience would be expecting Tinkerbell to look like but I also was required to do a solo lagoon ballet and fly on and off stage and sing and dance.
What I am advocating is that my 'womanly curves' did not inhibit my ability to do the role!
I think we all appreciate that certain people so obviously create the right visual image for certain roles such as eye colour, hair colour etc but is it dangerous to create particular body imagery to certain types of dancer as this creates an environment to breed obsession with creating the 'perfect' body image? What I am trying to answer is why we obsess and adverts like this only go towards underlining the reasons why.
I am just trying to generate opinions regarding body imagery for dancers in the business and whether aesthetic standards should be applied in any form and whether there should be a code of standards set that prevent discrimination and allows diversity and equality. What do others think? At the end of the day the casting director will pick who fits his particular agenda anyway!?
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Bell
I think when it comes to casting a casting director should be able to be as specific as they want. That is their job. It may be the case that in order for most women to be flat chested with no womanly curves they would have to acquire an eating disorder. However, there will be some girls out there who are just that shape and who probably won't have as many casting opportunities as you may think. Why should they lose out on what is clearly the ideal job for them just because others are put out that they don't meet the criteria.
ReplyDeleteThe industry is about individuality. We can only ever be the best at being ourselves and I think this is what we should be teaching at colleges. That way when people graduate and the casting directors are being specific there is less chance that they will see the breakdown for something and starve themselves to fit the bill. It makes me think about this poem.
Poem - The Plum
You can learn that you cannot be loved by all people
You can be the finest PLUM in the world,
RIPE – JUICY – SUCCULENT
And offer yourself to all.
However you must remember there will always be people who do not like plums.
You can learn to understand that if you are the world’s finest plum,
And someone you like does not like plums
You have a choice of becoming a banana.
However, you need to be warned that if you choose to become a banana,
You will be a second-rate banana,
However, you can always be the best plum.
You need to understand that if you choose to be a second-rate banana,
There will always be people who do not like bananas,
Furthermore, you can spend your life trying to become the best banana (which is impossible if you are a plum),
Or: You can seek again to be the
BEST PLUM!!
really impressive info to read about chested ballet dancer physique, skinny with a beautiful face to play Tinkerbel.
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