Literature Review.....

Diet for Dancers: A Complete Guide to Nutrition and Weight Control

Authors; Sally S. Fitt/ Robin D. Chmelar

This is a diet book based on research with dancers, it provides information about proper dietary procedures that will enable dancers to reach and/or maintain their optimal body weight for dancing. Areas discussed include weight control, individual differences in metabolism, body composition and eating disorders.

About the Authors:

Robin D. Chmelar has contributed to the journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists.
Sally Sevey Fitt is the author of Dance Kinesiology.

What I like about this book as opposed to the many available on diets for dancers is that Chmelar and Fitt are not telling dancers they have to be thin, rather they are reporting the realities that face most dancers who pursue careers in theatrical performing dance and encourage dancers who do not fit the body composition standards for being a professional ballet dancer to seek a style of dance that suits their bodies. They actually assembled research on the body compositions of 15 female professional and university, ballet and modern dancers and compared them to those of five kinds of female athletes. These results show that such dancers need to fit into a pretty narrow range of percent body fat and weight relative to height. These values are substantially below what is considered an average healthy weight for non dance women. Yet the values for these same categories of male dancers are very similar to those of healthy non dance men. So it is the research that shows that female dancers have to maintain a lower than healthy average body weight. They simply report the facts based on sound research and offer  a diet that can be followed whilst remaining healthy. 
I was a bit sceptical about using a dieting book for dancers, as I know how severe the pressure is for a dancer to be thin and figured all books would promote and/or encourage anorexia. However having been subject to comments about losing weight at college my Mum bought me this book  to help me eat healthily as a dancer and I was really surprised when reading this book as it strongly advised against anorexia and gave some wonderful facts on dancers losing weight which did work for me.
I find the book so useful for myself as well as using it for this course as it not only focuses on diet but gives lots of other information. The authors give opinions on how to promote healthy weight expectations for female dancers. In the section "Professional Realities and Ethical Considerations" p43 they  write, "In no way can this or any other book dictate what a school or company's weight standards should be. We can offer guidelines based on our current knowledge, but any dancer who reaches professional status is bound to be met by strict standards.... directors, faculty, and students in university programs should ask themselves a number of questions (some of which might also be considered by professional companies) such as: Should we have weight standards? If so, how strict should they be for performing-emphasis students? Should we have weight standards for students going into non performance dance fields? What kind of policy should we have for students who don't meet weight standards? Are we familiar with appropriate referral sources for students with eating disorders? How do we strike a healthy balance between ensuring our dancers are healthy yet meet the aesthetic standards of dance? And what are those aesthetic standards? There are obviously a variety of answers to these questions; however, the important thing is that they be discussed openly among faculty and student representatives."
To me this shows a responsible attitude on the part of the authors for both recognizing the pressures of the real world in certain areas of dance and in encouraging dancers, instructors, and directors to recognize their responsibilities in shaping healthy aesthetic expectations for body weight among dancers.
The book explains the way diet and exercise interacts as it applies to dancers, lists the functions of all vitamins and minerals, and notes those nutrients in which research has shown dancers to be deficient. This book worked for me whilst I was at college and guided me towards how to plan my meals and eat correctly and healthily and  towards maintaining a healthy, fit body composition rather than trying to force an unhealthy skinny one.
This book is particularly relevant to my line of inquiry researching the health education of dancers, body issues and image of dancers and the aesthetic expectations of dancers.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780916622893/Diet-for-Dancers


Is the world of ballet as brutal as the Black Swan portrays it? Ex – ballerina Arlene Phillips gives her verdict.

This was a review of the film the ‘Black Swan’ that appeared in the Daily Mail on 21^st January 2011. This was important to me as it was watching this film and then reading several articles discussing issues raised in the film that made me decide what questions I would develop as my line of inquiry. It reiterated to me that there is still a problem in the dance world despite all the moves towards healthier dancers and meant my line of inquiry was useful and important and still very relevant to the industry. Although the characters in the film are fictional all the issues frequently connected to the dance profession are raised again – obsession, perfectionism, body weight, body image and the mental stresses.
The particular article by Arlene Phillips is interesting and very useful but is only one opinion. However it gives an insight into the extreme lengths dancers will go to to make their bodies more suitable for dance, even to the point that a friend would have a bust reduction operation to get a place at ballet school.
I think it made me start to question why even such revered people in the dance world, such as Arlene Phillips, accept the way dance has its aesthetic standards and don’t begin to challenge that perspective. I was interested in how she herself dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer but her womanly curves stopped her and she had to change direction but has made a satisfactory career in dance despite that set back.
The ballerina body image as seen in the film ‘The Black Swan’ put the issues for dancers into the public spotlight again and raised the profile of concerns over body weight, eating disorders, body image and the dancers overall well being. It emphasised to me that there is a need to educate our dancers and that despite claims to the contrary there are still many who suffer as a result of the unachievable pressures put upon them and that there is a need to change attitudes and behaviours.
The movie brings these issues back into focus again but I also found this article  interesting from the point of view of how influential the media and society is on putting dancers, not just ballerinas, under pressure to achieve a  perceived ‘perfectionism’. Despite all the history and the warnings even the most revered in the industry have a submissive perception of how a dancer should look and this is why I found the article useful for my line of inquiry. I think it is up to people such as Arlene Phillips who are influential in the profession to provide support to changing attitudes within the dance profession to advocate healthy eating and exercise habits and embrace dancers as people.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1349062/Black-Swan-Anorexia-dark-sexual-encounters-ballet-brutal-film-portrays-it.html#ixzz1FLeCU1CI

Considering  a Health Educational role in the training of dance teachers – Sho Botham,  MA Dance and Health Education.

Sho Botham has an extensive background in the dance profession as well as in exercise, health and wellbeing. Her career includes working as a professional dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, lecturer, adjudicator, examiner/assessor, health education adviser, researcher and writer. She draws on her background in both dance and health education when designing and delivering professional and personal development courses, seminars and workshops for dance teachers and dance teaching bodies and organisations.

Sho was an Executive Councillor of the UKA for a number of years, and represented their interests at the Council for Dance Education and Training (CDET) and Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR). She is a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) and currently sits on the Development Committee of IADMS.

A PhD student at University of Brighton's Chelsea School, Sho has carried out research into ethics and dance teaching.

I found Sho Botham’s paper on Health Education in the Training of Dance Teachers particularly useful to my line of inquiry. Her research supports the holistic approach  to dance education and encourages further debate on the subject and supports the argument for ethical dance teaching practices.

I found the document thought provoking and agree with the findings of her research although despite her work towards promoting dance ethics this is not followed up in the industry as ethics remain merely guidelines and have no code of practice which is monitored or reviewed.

This inspired me to follow my lines of inquiry as it could have some relevance if the industry would change its behaviours and attitudes and introduce a code of ethics that is administered, monitored and reviewed.  Sho Botham hoped that the ethical issues raised in her paper would be pursued further but despite much research I couldn’t find where it has been and this again gave me the confidence to pursue my line of inquiry as a relevant and useful piece of research.

Her statement in her opening paragraph was music to my ears...... “in order  to be able to teach dance without damaging or suffocating the inborn gift of dance, needs teachers with the ability to support and enhance the flourishing of each individual”.

What I also found extremely useful about this article is there were suggestions for further reading on the subject.  It was also useful to see how she had structured the paper and used her research as an explanation of her inquiry. She also gives useful criticism of where her research could have been done better which I think is useful to learn from where she felt she could have improved her findings.

The lack of a code of ethics and the submissive attitudes and behaviours which contribute to low self esteem and body image issues for dancers is something I mean to research more in my line of inquiry but this piece of research by Sho Botham is useful in its explorations and findings on dance ethics and the role of health education in dance which is a good place to start my journey and take further.

http://www.decodanz.co.uk/

Emphashttp://www.decodanz.co.uk/ising the learning aspect of creative subjects is very important and something The response thus each student learns something different from a project. The article contained a lot of useful information particularly for me and my line of inquiry but the way that

Please see my link to my Delicious account.

http://www.delicious.com/emily.rose1991

I have used lots of articles, books and interviews to help with my research into my inquiry. Here I have listed the main ones that I consistantly use and some others which have helped me when answering some particular questions.

Critical reflection – merits and limits of the 4 tools in addressing my questions of research for my inquiry.....

I experimented using the 4 tools to gain information for use in my line of inquiry.  I wanted to find out how people viewed their own experience of body image issues in the dance profession to see if this was a relevant and useful line of enquiry. A key objective was to investigate whether education for dancers about nutrition could make a positive change to body culture and the lifestyle of female dancers. I wanted to maximise the ‘insider perspective’ and capture authentic accounts of the realities of the dance culture from the inside.

I want to focus my line of inquiry into 3 areas to frame the research outcomes –

1)   nutritional knowledge and health

2)   the dance aesthetic and disordered eating practices

3)   factors influencing a dancer’s body image.

I was always conscious I had to gain the trust of those I was using to get information to ensure their confidentiality and ensure any information gathered was correctly and accurately recorded.

Pilot survey –

I learnt how to use a survey using ‘Zoomerang’, this was easy to use and set up and easy to respect participants confidentiality. It also collated the results in an organised and easy to read table. I was conscious other BAPPers had used Survey Monkey but I decided to use a different one.

I found the survey was an easy way to get relevant information. It was easy to access through social networks by posting the link on the SIG, Facebook and the Blog and also easy to collate and compare the responses.

I also emailed the link to some of my dance associates and other practitioners with a covering note to explain the reasons for my questionnaire and the course. I found people were really willing to participate and gave me very personal answers and opinions which were really helpful to my line of questioning.

The survey was quite restrictive as it was limited to 12 questions which meant I had to make sure the questions were very specific to what I wanted to know and to make sure the feedback was relevant. Comment boxes allowed for elaboration but some participants did not tend to write detailed answers.  I will have to be very clear of what information I need in Module 3 to design the questions to help the participants understanding of their influence on my research.

However I think the questionnaire was a good way of obtaining points of view to gain a balanced viewpoint and a good basis of data to analyse the weight of evidence to make an informed decision on my final line of inquiry. The results of my pilot survey have provided me with some interesting information and by doing so has helped me to see exactly what questions need to be asked in order to gain the information I need. I will revisit my questions for my final professional inquiry and try to focus them more on my final line of questioning. I now realise what I need to do to improve my survey.

Pilot interview –

It was easier to obtain more detailed information when interviewing someone face to face as I could ask relevant questions followed by a why, what were the outcomes, how did that make someone feel, to obtain more detailed information and probe a bit further.  It was easier to adapt the interview as I went along and although I had made a plan of what questions I wanted to cover it gave more flexibility to be able to follow through on an idea and investigate feelings and opinions further.

I chose to interview for my pilot a fellow choreographer and teacher at a school where I was doing some dance workshops. I obtained her permission first to conduct the interview and her consent to use the information for my research. I roughly planned what questions I was going to ask.

Because she is also a friend it was easy to interview her but perhaps the downside is you can easily become distracted and go off at tangents chatting. I need to ensure I keep the interview on track and stick to the script – channel the discussion to ensure I get the right information for the inquiry.

I found it was good to have a set plan of questioning that I wanted to cover but then to allow for the freedom to allow for more detailed discussion and let the answers dictate the next question by probing for more details.  I just need to not let the discussion go too far off track and go on for too long. Perhaps it would be better to have a set timescale for the length of the interview to ensure it doesn’t overrun.

I decided to use my dictaphone to record the interview as I felt trying to write down the responses as the interview went along would mean I would lose concentration and focus and maybe I would miss or forget some relevant piece of information. Using the dictaphone meant I could actively take part in the interview, observe my participant and her body language and reactions as well as have an exact record of what was said. I then typed up the interview on my PC to have a detailed copy of the interview for future use.  

Pilot Focus Group -

I found one of the best ways of obtaining relevant information was to conduct informal chats with groups I have worked with, ie; a GCSE group, a group of year 12 students, a theatre group and a group of professional dancers. It solicited detailed debate and got people within the groups to open up, share and discuss sensitive issues, give their opinions and impart their personal experiences. Most said they felt more comfortable discussing the issues involved within a group.

I was able to gather relevant information from a range of participants in a short period of time and it facilitated discussions on issues I personally had not considered before and uncover unexpected information. I was then able to record a written transcript of the discussions.

Pilot observation –

I carried out several observations for my research by watching, recording and analysing events and conversations at classes, rehearsals and workshops I was involved in and found this a really useful way of obtaining information and I recorded my findings in written format in my journal.  This not only involved verbal but behavioural observations. I observed lots of interesting and relevant behaviours that I think will help me with my line of inquiry. I think that observations add depth to the findings from my survey, interview and focus group. I'm going to continue my observations whilst out working in Corfu with the dance troupe.

The four tools have given me a foundation on which to base my professional inquiry on a larger scale in the final module.

“Who says I eat it?

I look at it. Occasionally I smell it!.” 

(The life of a dancer just ain't easy !!!!)

Every commercial dance film made always deals with the body image obsession of dancers and in particular the weight issues of dancers:

 A Chorus Line, Fame, Centre Stage, Dying to Dance and now The Black Swan this suggests it is an ongoing , unresolved problem in the dance industry.

In ‘Fame’ Iris tells Mabel, “You can’t eat. You’re a dancer.”

In relation to the Vanilla pudding in her hand she says, “Who says I eat it? I look at it. Occasionally I smell it!.”

Mabel replies, “I wanna die! Do you know what I go through day in day out? The sore muscles, the back pain, the sweat, the bleedin’ toes and on top o’ that – I can’t EAT!”

Such is the life of the dancer!

Why do we put one group in our society through such emotional and physical turmoil?

These are not people who are overweight to begin with.
Do we really need to have thin, frail girls dancing across a stage?

The legitimate reasons given why ballet dancers must be thin is for reasons such as,
1) the dancer needs to appear light and weightless
2) her partner needs to be able to lift her
3) it will be harder to dance in pointe shoes if the dancer is too heavy
4) people will not pay money to watch 'overweight'dancers.

Okay, I understand these points but why can’t the dancer also be healthy?
Why is it either too thin or too big? Is there nothing in between?

Of course you need to be in shape to be a professional dancer just like you would to be a professional athlete. But why do you have to be ultra skinny and possibly anorexic to achieve the requirements to be a dancer? A dancer who takes good care of herself can easily do what a dancer is required to do. Dancers don’t have to be thin or tall  however in order to gain the flexibility and physical strength for dance, they do have to be very fit.

It’s no secret that dancers are obsessed with their bodies it simply comes with the territory. There is no way to train as a dancer and not be hyperconscious of the way you look, the proportions of your body and the quality of your movement. As dancers, our concern for our image goes beyond that of a model or an actor. Being a dancer and performer I think you cannot avoid feeling judged for how you look and this is not just in relation to weight there are many other issues about the ‘perfect’ body image that affects dancers but it is weight issues that primarily concern us as dancers as I found out from my pilot survey and interview. 

 It is not simply the figure we cut or our attractiveness as a sexual being, but the artistic, emotional, and aesthetic impact we create in motion. Dancers tend to define the "ideal body" narrowly and measure the gap between the ideal and the real. They can’t help it, society and the dance industry demands it.

To be a ballet dancer you have to be a certain aesthetic shape and weight and to be a musical theatre performer at the professional level dancers are typically tall, thin and leggy. I am neither which is very frustrating for me. I did go through a period at college where pressure was put upon me to lose weight and I did try to lose more weight than I should have and I had a very negative body image. It never escalated into a full blown eating disorder but I did make myself ill and I was utterly miserable and that was my wake up call. It made me think, “What am I doing? This is ridiculous! I need to be myself and healthy and not try to be something that I am not.”

When I watch ballet or any other form of dance I am always distracted by dancers who are obviously too thin.  I can’t appreciate the dance.  I can’t imagine not nourishing your body enough when you have so many demands on it. Emaciated, skeletal bodies in my opinion are not attractive to watch. I watch dancers to appreciate the dancer and their skill. Professionals must rehearse long hours on top of performances. A body needs to eat! That is a scientific fact! How can you sustain your muscles to do what is necessary if you are not nourishing them? This is why so many ballet dancers are plagued with injury and look haggard at such a young age and have to give up dancing at a relatively early age. Many only start puberty and menstruating after their careers in ballet have finished.

I observed the dancers at an open company ballet class last week and one dancer in particular was so thin she was skeletal and emaciated  - I couldn’t bare to watch her as I was afraid for her health. She had to sit out of all the jumping exercises due to injury. She just did not look ‘normal’ for a young woman. How can the dance industry describe this as aesthetically perfect? This was obviously a dancer who could not be menstruating and was anoerexic. 

 Ideally, the outstanding dancer combines musicality and physical grace with an astonishing technique, but I agree the first thing anyone notices is the body. That is why even well-established professionals worry about their weight. Dancers are supposed to be lean, yet dancing does not always burn a lot of calories, and dieting rarely works for long. In fact, dancers who diet extensively may lower their metabolism, become fatigued, and ultimately destroy their health.

This is the side of dance that I don’t and will never understand. There seems to be unnecessary pressure to achieve things that are not normal and when that compromises your body and your health it is surely wrong. I understand wanting to be competitive and achieve  and how tough the business is due to too many dancers and not enough positions but shouldn’t we try to take care of our bodies so we can dance as long as we can?

Surveys indicate that professional female dancers are considerably thinner than the general population of women. This pressure to be thin is demeaning to women. When I read on the SIG about some colleges making their students “weigh in” or be on a “fat list” or doing a class wrapped in cling film, I think that is humiliating and morally wrong. Of course it is only natural when they don't get through an audition the first thing they are going to question is their 'weight' regardless of whether this has played a factor or not in the grand scheme of things. That dancer will always feel it is this that has let her down because she has been made to believe that all along by her peers. 

One person commented on my questionnaire that at her dance college every week the class were filmed and then they were made to watch it back and all their faults were discussed including who was too fat! This particular person ended up with anorexia and 9 months in hospital as she became emaciated. She has now turned her life around and is pursuing a different career path totally un connected to dance but still has health issues left over as a legacy from the anorexia and will be on medication for the rest of her life to control her intestinal disorder. What I find incredible is that the principle of the college was sued for a similar case but still continues her regime on current students to demand ‘thin’ dancers. Another friend of mine, who completed my pilot questionnaire, is currently a student dancer at the same college and has been told to lose weight and is constantly battling with her weight and womanly curves.

I think dance teachers and choreographers that push women to be unhealthy are not doing it for the sake of the art form, they are doing it for some need to be in control of others. When the dancers in this industry really understand that, only then will things change. Expecting a specific body type pushes women to do one of two things,
either
1) be unhealthy or
2) not pursue a professional career.
Why should the dance industry place unachievable expectations on them?

Although eating disorders can affect everyone, the incidence in dancers is higher than in any other group in society. What I find incredible is that it is still swept under the carpet and not openly discussed. One thing I found in my pilot survey is that dancers are very keen to keep their identity secret. It’s almost as if to admit to not meeting these body requirements is a ‘failure’ in itself and all fear some rebuttal if they reveal who they are and speak out about the particular teacher or establishment. I know how that feels too. You succumb to the system because you can’t beat it! That sends out a very strong message to me that attitudes in the dance industry are still embedded with the traditional views of the proportions a dancer should achieve and anyone who doesn’t meet those requirements is ‘rejected’. This puts their health and well being ultimately at risk.

 
Dancers in our society are told that if they are not thin then they will not be considered as dancers because of the traditional way we view the dancer and so because of  those pressures to be thin she will go to any ends to achieve the ‘desired’ weight which can often result in an eating disorder. These disorders can cause many disturbances in the body sometimes even resulting in death.

To deconstruct the ideal we have to have those in the industry who will embrace dancers whose bodies defy the stereotypes. Creating a world where there is no specific body proportions but how they are used that makes the dancer is a long way off but I think it is up to us as dancers in the industry to help force those changes. The more your body deviates from the "ideal" (whatever that might be), the more exceptional a dancer you must be. As a performer, technician, artist, you have to have something unique to offer that is absolutely irreplaceable, that cannot be denied or turned away. What makes a dancer interesting in my view is how she dances. I think the quality of a dancer’s movement can be so much more important than having the 'right' proportions but it is a tough hill to climb to get the industry to accept and embrace that.

I think it is also the responsibility of the student to seek out teachers and colleges that appreciate these differences. Teachers who insist on weighing everyone or are in the habit of making disparaging remarks should be held accountable for their behaviour and this can only be achieved by introducing a code of ethics for the industry that is monitored.

It has taken me a long time to be able to talk about what my good qualities are as a dancer, instead of going straight into what I don’t like about myself, as I still carry the scars of constant demeaning remarks made about me for 3 years at college and I still have to restrain myself from dwelling on the negatives, but I am learning to try and accept myself for who I am and trying to rebuild my self esteem and confidence and work on what I have to offer the industry being myself.

Overwhelmingly the results of my pilot questionnaire reveal that there is still a problem in the dance world especially at vocational colleges and this gives me the reassurance that my line of inquiry is useful and necessary.

Although not all the individuals who completed the questionnaire had suffered an eating disorder themselves or been subject to disparaging remarks all had witnessed them towards a fellow student and unanimously all felt there should be more education introduced to try and reduce the number of sufferers. All felt it is time for change in the industry in how we view the dancer. Surprisingly none have considered surgery to correct something they feel will be against them in the industry.  

The idea of working for people who see you as an individual instead of a 'type' is what I would like to see as a further step in the dance industry and what should be encouraged and why I chose this subject as my line of inquiry. We all take corrections daily as a dancer and should work on the things that need improvement but also work with what we have naturally. There's nothing more entrancing than a dancer who knows what they've got and can use it. This is what I feel is needed in the profession – an openness and acceptance that dance is for everyone not just for the thin and tall people. Getting others on board will be a momentous task and a challenge but already in the celebrity world of fashion, music and acting there are those who are determined to defy the ‘size zero’ stereotype and embrace women for who they naturally are. Surely this can be true for the dance industry as well?

This is an extract from an article I found where artistic directors of companies talk about weight issues and there are two very contrasting views:

"Physical appearance is very important," said artistic director William Starrett (Columbia Conservatory of Dance). "I have a lot of rules, and a lot of people have had trouble with it. . . . With the chart (weight) they can see a variance. It works well. It makes them more aware and forces them to eat properly." Starrett said dancers are encouraged to read about nutrition, but that he's most concerned with the artistic impact and overall look of the company. If dancers are unable to meet his weight standards, he maintained, "They're no good to me. I can't paint with fat paintbrushes. I'm trying to get people to really love ballet. The audience won't pay if it's not special, not magical”.

By comparison not all ballet companies are so meticulous about weight.

"What kind of policy can you have?" said Eliot Feld, insisting that weight problems are not an issue for his ‘Ballet Tech’ company. "It is hard to have a policy based on an aberrant circumstance." Although he recognizes that there can be a Darwinian quality to the profession, and that some dancers have an ongoing struggle with weight in the quest for theoretic perfection, he said employees are human beings first and dancers second. "If you love the dancer as a person, this is the real thing. There are some wonderful dancers who don't have the ‘ideal' body."
Mark Morris (Artistic Director)  went one step further, declaring that he finds extremely thin dancers grisly; "Sometimes I want to go backstage and give them a sandwich!" His dancers are often said to look like real people: "Guess what?" he said. "They are!"

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_n11_v71/ai_19961255/?tag=rbxcra.2.a.33

This was a survey conducted for Dance Magazine in 1997 and I could not find one more up to date so thought maybe this is one area of research I could try and follow for my main inquiry topic and contact some English Dance companies and see if they would take part in my own up to date survey to see if attitudes have indeed changed.

http://www.btinternet.com/~negativecharisma/bodies/benn.pdf

As a pilot I have sent a copy of the extracts to several outside practitioners to comment upon -  it will be interesting to see what they think.

As I am researching body issues for the dancer and trying through my blog entries to show the rationale behind my developing line of inquiry, I actually can’t believe what many dancers go through and worse that people actually defend it. Many advocate the healthy dancer and support outwardly education on healthy ways of eating and body care but then have weigh ins alledgedly to promote healthy weight?! 

 It is apparant from the answers to my pilot research  through questionnaire, interview ,observation and research of documentation on the internet and autobiographies of professional dancers there is a suggested gap between the rhetoric of nutritional education and the reality of 'practices'. Authoritarian behaviour and submissive attitudes are apparant and contribute to problems with low self esteem, body  image and eating disorders. I think there should be a reappraisal of the aesthetic and body culture in the management of the dance profession and more empowerment to dancers to encourage them to question, critique and improve the culture of the dance art form rather than merely accept its ideals and demands. This is to form the basis of my line of inquiry for my award and to be further researched in the next module. 

I ultimately want to perform as a professional dancer but also develop my skills and personal interest in learning more about health education to consider a broader approach to consider psychological and ethical issues in dance education as well as technical skills and the practical aspects of dance and to encourage a re appraisal of body culture in the dance profession as a whole. I think this will be important, relevant and significant to the development of a modern dance culture for it to move forwards as well as a personal challenge to enhance my own skills and knowledge of dance science and as a writer in an overall contribution to the subject I love the most - 'dance'.  

I have conducted a small scale pilot survey and interview which I will extend in order to complete my inquiry in the next module. I will post a blog of my critical reflections of that process so far and the observations I have carried out in my professional practice this week whilst rehearsing for my summer contract. I hope to use authentic accounts of the human realities of existing cultures in the dance world from that research. I am happy to say the Artistic Director and Choreographer of the company has agreed to be my professional support for the inquiry.  I feel like I have now come to a decision on what my line of inquiry will be  -   my blog entries hopefully have documented my journey and development of that decision.

I am currently looking at literature to help my inquiry  and 'delicious' as a means to recording them. I hope I can achieve all this for the deadline on this module whilst trying to learn the lyrics for 14 songs and rehearse 12 hours a day  and follow a healthy life plan  - phew the life of a dancer certainly ain't easy !?       

"Cruel to be kind?" makes a tough   
  cookie?

An old English proverb - “Cruel to be kind” – is to cause someone pain for their own good has it’s origins in Shakespeare’s Hamlet after he has berated his mother for her infidelity to the memory of her deceased husband [Hamlet Act 3, Scene 4, by William Shakespeare];

“I must be cruel, only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind”.

Wiktionary definition: “Cruel to be kind” is to do or say something to another person which you believe to be for their own good, and will be helpful for them in the future, although it might be painful or hurtful at this moment.

       Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/be_cruel_to_be_kind"

cruel (adjective)

1. causing or inflicting pain without pity

2. causing pain or suffering

kind

friendly, considerate, generous, courteous, gentle & not harmful.

So “Cruel to be kind” is ;

1)       to say or do something to someone that seems unkind but is intended to help them

2)       making a decision which seems to be harsh, but with the intention of it being morally     correct, or having a better outcome in the long term or

3)      sometimes you have to do something which appears to be unkind but you must do it in      order to get a good result.

Similar to the saying you have to do wrong to do right.

A bit like "sweet and sour"  - a contradiction of terms - cruel is to inflict pain and kind is not harmful so does it mean inflicting pain which is not harmful?

If someone’s “cruelty to be kind” is causing unnecessary hurt, isn’t that just counter productive ? This is my personal view.

However one of the outside practitioners I contacted to give an opinion on my line of inquiry reckons in this particular industry we have to be “cruel to be kind”. He is a professional dance teacher, agent and danced professionally himself.

His view is that,

“I guess I am still a little old school in my thinking. The nature of our industry is very very competitive quite simply because there are so few jobs for so many dancers. Although there are extreme cases of where things can be said, called and done that are not acceptable and I’m not condoning the points you have mentioned but I think given the nature of the profession that we need to be tough cookies. I think it’s very easy for people in today’s society to think that as long as you work and try hard then everything will be ok and I do believe there is a little bit of blame culture to our modern society, as in ‘if I don’t get the job then it’s not simply down to the fact that I wasn’t suitable, right height, hair colour, etc, no it’s probably because an old teacher of mine has affected me mentally when they called me a name, or made me aware in a non politically correct way of how hard the industry is! In the real world when you leave college and start auditioning you have to be mentally strong for the amount of rejection that you are going to get. And that’s not to do with the industry being out of date, its just quite simply supply and demand, there are so many dancers for so few jobs! It is a very tough thing to deal with going to audition after audition after audition and not getting anywhere, it takes a strong person to deal with that and to keep going and keep auditioning. How strong mentally do you have to be to take a year of rejection? And that’s just the reality of the profession.”

So a different view point - we should accept the cruelty as it is really kindness making us tough to cope with the reality of the profession? I still cannot agree - I think we all can appreciate how tough the business is when we leave college without having to have suffered the humiliation of constant degrading comments. There are other ways of preparing dancers for that reality. I actually think the constant negative criticism does the exact opposite and doesn’t help make us tough mentally to cope with a very competitive, harsh industry, it actually debilitates the ability to cope with further rejection. 

I think the fact that we "blame" the comments suggests they were made inappropriately and  affected the recipient in a negative way. Of course it is only natural when a dancer is unsucessful at an audition the first thing they are going to question is their 'weight' or the issue that has been an issue regardless of whether this has played a factor or not in the grand scheme of things. That dancer will always feel it is this that has let her down because she has been made to believe that all along by her peers. 

I think we should all treat others the way we want to be treated ourselves and respect them for who they are. Shouldn’t we all have some expectation to be treated fairly? I think too many of us are afraid to stand up for what is right and hesitate to defend someone who is suffering. I think rudeness is often used as an excuse by people who don't care about other people’s feelings. It always seems to me to be a choice not to better other people but to validate horribly rude behaviour and make the brutal one feel virtuous for doing so.

 Being rude tends to inflate the ego which only grows if not checked – it empowers a person and gives them power.  Many times, rude children grow up to be rude adults unless someone adjusts their attitudes.  Some people get away with being rude their whole lives.  "If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen" is probably the most famous proverb used by rude people.

 

Being rude comes from a condescending mind set and has become very popular these days.  Simon Cowell makes a living from giving his rude remarks to hopeful singers and the people who watch are ‘entertained’ as people are publically humiliated. Why is seeing the death of a dream entertaining to anyone? It is so obvious they hand pick so many people from the auditions who he can ridicule. His rudeness is so choreographed for ‘entertainment’ value.

One could say that it is simply part of professional competition. However the most respected professionals in the business have turned hundreds or thousands of hopefuls away but they did it with class and many times gave them direction to improve their talents or change career path. The rude, "in your face", attitude has become a highlight in many forums as opposed to calm reasoning and intelligent discussion.  Rudeness is often applauded but never, really respected. 

I discussed this with another dance practitioner, another teacher and she said,

“fI work closely with a lot of highly respected and successful people in the dance industry and I can tell you that some of them are good with people, and some of them are not, but no one looks up to the people who aren't, whatever their technical skills, experience and background.”

You can be honest while being sensitive to the other person's feelings. Honesty to the point of bluntness can become rude. You can be honest and still be polite. It's all in the word choices. Being honest is not an excuse to be rude.

This is why I question these methods and think they are wrong. Correcting someone or suggesting ways to improve can be done without destroying a person’s self esteem and confidence and without humiliation to the recipient. It is most often counter productive, the person merely focuses on the negatives. If someone is rude or insulting it is much harder to get the point across no matter how good or useful it may be. The recipient will not really listen to the point and that is then detrimental to everyone.

Communication is all about the message that we wish to send. That which helps communication is helpful and that which hinders communication is not helpful. As far as I see it, rudeness distracts the recipient from the real points that you are trying to make and therefore it is not effective. Rudeness dwells in being right while politeness dwells in being effective. Being rude is only hindering the cause of what you are trying to say and achieve.

Constructive criticism is to critique an individual so they will benefit or improve. In dance this can be to increase the dancers knowledge and improve performance. We can say a lot of things without being offensive - it's called tact. We can consider our words before we speak and how they may impact on the recipient.

A teacher can encourage students to learn and develop mastery while they also develop positive self-esteem and remain passionate about dancing. The ability of a dancer to master a particular skill or technique depends on many factors but their growth as a dancer must surely be more productive in an environment that facilitates learning and appropriate feedback and a sense of joy and purpose. I don’t think this gives any young dancer a ‘false’ expectation on entry to the industry if the message is communicated appropriately and constructively. Constructive criticism should address an area that needs improving but does not speak to the person’s self. It should be a reasoned, unemotional response in an effort to teach. It tends to be far more helpful than a blunt critique of a student’s defects and a personal attack.

I found this quote which I think perfectly sums up:

"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots."

                                                                                          [Frank A. Clark, writer 1911]

Food for thought?! 
Bananas vs Custard Creams?
No comparison ?!

 I read an article in the Metro newspaper on Tuesday 29^th March entitled, “Five – a –day too costly, say young”. The article claimed that young people (under 25’s), students and those on low incomes are buying less fruit and vegetables because of soaring prices. According to the research by trade magazine, ‘The Grocer’, fruit prices rose 7.9% in 2010/2011 and vegetables 2.9%. The price of a pineapple was up by 43p (33%) and red grapes by 70p (20.6%). Bananas dropped in price to 20p per kilo.

This made me think of how, if I am researching body image and health education for dancers, we can promote nutrition and eating healthy if it is expensive to eat healthy as most dance students live on a shoestring and many new to the profession are on very low incomes. Wouldn’t the fact that someone couldn’t afford to eat healthy add further burden to someone with an eating disorder or who had been told by the college/company they had to lose weight or even increase their weight?

This issue is not just pertinent to those who are told to lose weight but there are dancers who are naturally too thin and there are other knock on effects of not eating healthy for those dancers who may be naturally aesthetically perfect and these include the effects on hair, teeth, skin, nails etc, as well as fatigue, loss of stamina and fitness which ultimately can lead to increased risk of injury. For all these reasons and more it is vital for dancers to eat healthy but if eating healthy is expensive, do they take the unhealthy option to save money?!

Dancers usually ‘graze’ between classes, rehearsals and performances and so eat little and often. I remember witnessing when I was at college students snacking all day on  packets of custard cream biscuits, or cookies, crisps, chocolate or those who were on diets ‘Snack-o-jacks’ or a box of cereal? And of course the usual student fodder of Super Noodles, Pot Noodle and Baked Beans! Is this because it’s a cheaper option?

So decided to do a little sleuthing, donned the mackintosh and deer stalker with magnifying glass in hand and headed for my local Tesco (not really- just dressed normal in jeans and T with note book and pen but you do get funny looks when you’re not really putting stuff in your trolley but jotting prices down in a notebook – I thought they might think I was some sort of spy for Asda?)

Here are a few price comparisons I did:

Healthy Snacks                                               Other favourite snacks (energy givers)
Bunch of bananas(4small)- 70p                           Packet custard creams – 30p (400g)
Soreen malt loaf    -  £1                                         Mars bar -  65p 
Muller light yoghurt  - 25p                                   2 x large bags Doritos £2 (50p each)
Smoothie -  £1.89                                                  Coke – 42p
Dried fruit - £2.99                                                 Marshmallows – 60p
Nuts - £2.99                                                           Maryland cookies £1.29 (bogof)
Raspberries/ Blueberries – 2 punnets £3              Crisps pack of 12 -  £1.39
Apples (pink lady) for 4 -  £1.89                           Pot Noodles 59p or 5 for £3        

On the High Street I passed ‘Gregs’ and I noted a sausage roll was 60p and a steak bake £1.07, 4 doughnuts £1 and a bag of 4 large cookies £1.49. A tuna mayo & salad baguette was £2.40, a cheese and tomato sandwich on wholemeal bread £1.79. So the healthier options do always seem to be more expensive.

 

As I was looking in ‘Gregs’ at prices it reminded me of Bird students who often did the ‘Greg’s run’ in Sidcup on a Thursday because timetable finished just before closing time and they could get all the food that was going to be thrown away for free – so they’d have a feast that night on pasties, bakes, sausage rolls, doughnuts, cookies. I, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view never went on the ‘Greg’s run’ as I was cycling home in the opposite direction! I suppose you couldn’t blame them for a good binge when they were getting it all for free!     

I also looked back at an article in a previous Metro paper. This was an article I remember I’d saved for reference on  February 21^st 2011 which was an article following the release of the film ‘The Black Swan’ and the effect it had had on promoting ballet as a form of exercise. In the article Jacqueline Birtwisle the Royal Ballet’s Sport and Exercise nutritionist gives advice on what dancers must eat to keep healthy. She says 2000 to 4000 calories a day and 2 litres of water. A one hour ballet class burns around 223 calories.

She suggests muesli and berries or banana for breakfast plus fresh fruit juice preferably 100% and not from concentrate.
Sushi or a filled pitta bread for lunch with a smoothie and a piece of fresh fruit.
A large meal of lean meat or fish with rice, salad or vegetables for dinner.

For grazing she suggests croissants/muffins, a skinny latte, fruit juice, nuts and dried fruit.

Using my sleuthing and price crunching evidence this could work out a rather expensive diet in comparison to cheaper alternatives.

Berries in particular are expensive although often there are deals on – at Tesco on the day I checked the prices, fresh raspberries and blueberries were 2 punnets for £3 – but frozen varieties do come cheaper at £2.  Bananas were the cheapest fruit at 70p for a small bunch of four. Smoothies @£1.89 are quite expensive and dried fruit is particularly expensive coming in at £2.99 for a bag of finest mixed dried berries (400g). ‘Pom’ pure concentrated pomegranate juice (as recommended by Jacqueline Birtwisle) is £4 per small bottle (not really student affordable?) Muffins are much more expensive than doughnuts or cookies and the good old custard creams come in the cheapest at 30p a packet (400g). Suschi is not a cheap lunch option at £4.99 for a mixed selection for one person. 

I did often wonder why custard creams were so popular at college, now I think I know why!  I am reliably informed they come even cheaper at the bargain pound store where you can get 3 packets for £1. Muesli can also be quite expensive (Dorset Muesli a particular favourite of mine crammed with berries and fruit is £3.69 per box) when compared with other cereals (eg: Frosties @ £1 .39).
 

I was advised by a sports nutritionist to snack on Soreen Malt Loaf  as  a healthy low fat snack. This is £1 per loaf (I tend to stock up when it’s on a ‘bog off’ offer) but it still can’t compete with the price of custard creams @ 30p for 400g.

As I did one of my workshops this week (Year 10’s and 11’s) I observed what the young dancers had during their breaks – crisps, quavers, biscuits (custard creams and Maryland cookies are the most popular), buns, Pringles, Haribo sweets, cheese strings and yoghurts but there wasn’t one banana!? In fact I didn’t see any fruit at all.
By comparison I had malt loaf, a banana and some grapes!  

So what are the nutritional facts and figures?

Bananas                                    vs                  Custard Creams
70p for 4 small bananas                            30p for 400g (20 biscuits)
per banana -                                               per biscuit -
calories 116                                                calories 60
protein  1.4g                                                protein 0.6g
carbs 27g (sugars 24g)                              carbs 8g (sugars 3.5g)
fat 0.3g (saturates nil)                                 fat 2.8g (saturates 1.7g)   

fibre 36g                                                       fibre 0.2g
sodium nil                                                     sodium  0.1g

Hmmmmm.................................. it is food for thought?

The banana does have more calories and is high in carbs (natural sugars) fibre and protein whilst having no fat or salt – the cost for 1 small banana = 18p. Containing three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fibre, a banana gives a sustained and substantial boost of energy. It is reported that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout.

By comparison the custard cream has only 60 calories per biscuit.The nutritional content is much less and will only give you a short burst of energy although they are relatively low in salt, sugar and saturate fats but the cost for one custard cream is only 1½p.

[Believe it or not the custard cream has it’s own Wikipedia page and has won Britain’s favourite biscuit award 12 times.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard_cream

So as grazing animals who need to snack often to replenish energy do dancers on low incomes buy the bananas or the custard creams?
Mentioned this to someone at a rehearsal yesterday and they said, “Who would only eat one custard cream?”
Yes, this is probably true – they would maybe eat a couple at a time in between classes or  as was suggested  "the whole packet"?
If you ate all 4 bananas you would get only 464 calories for your 70p.
Your bananas would be burnt off in 2 classes but it would take 5 classes to burn off the calories from the full packet of custard creams but it would still only cost 30p!
If one ballet class burns off 233 calories you could have 2 small bananas at a cost of 35p or 4 custard creams at 6p.

Of course most of us know that the banana is the healthy option, the facts and figures speak for themselves but I wonder how many dance students who are told they have a weight issue are sent away with a list of ‘healthy foods’ and suggested healthy options but get to the supermarket and when they check the cost buy a cheaper option that has less calorific value.

I think it is interesting that the students I observed this week when I asked them about their ‘snacking’ habits said they weren’t worried because they knew they were going to “burn it off in class”.

Another interesting article I read in a magazine this week was about healthy skin and it suggests the best foods to ensure our skin is at its healthiest are avocados, blueberries, cherries and pure 100% pomegranate juice. Again when price crunching at Tescos all were amongst the most expensive options – the blueberries were the only one on a promotion at 2 punnets for £3.  

What do others think that are considering body image issues?
Is there an issue here for making sure we support the healthy option by factoring a cost issue in to the advice that is given to dance students?

Sending someone away with, for example Jacqueline Birtwisle’s, diet plan may not really help someone who also has to carefully consider the financial cost.

So, are you team ‘banana’ or team ‘custard cream’?

vs

            

You are a struggling student dancer on a very low income - would you compromise the healthy option because of the cost when we are in a day and age where every little really does help?




Reference:

Articles in Metro newspaper,

         February 21^st 2011 – ‘Swan your way round the barre’

         March 29^th 20011 –   ‘Five- a – day too costly say young’ .

Research by Emily Rose Harris based on prices on Wednesday 30^th March 2011 at Tesco and Gregs (Hemsworth).