Your body Your risk

Taken time out  from drafting the critical review and developing the artefact to share this on the blog with the BAPP community.

 Adesola sent me a very interesting link to Dance UK's -

Healthier Dancer Programme Conference: Monday 30th April 2012

·         Venue: Royal Society of Medicine, LONDON, W1G 0AE

·         Key topics: Demands on dancers, healthy nutrition, and the prevention and treatment of disordered eating.

This conference will aid the dancer and their multidisciplinary support team to identify and encourage healthy behaviors and deal effectively with disordered eating patterns when necessary. It advocates a multidisciplinary approach, with presentations from leading artistic directors, health professionals, and support staff in addition to personal insights from dancers.

Speakers will include: Dame Monica Mason DBE, Artistic Director Royal Ballet; Lauren Cuthbertson, Principal Dancer Royal Ballet; and Huw Goodwin, Research Associate Loughborough University Centre for Research into Eating Disorders (LUCRED).

Anyone interested can get full details from the Dance UK's website

http://www.danceuk.org/

The day sounds really interesting and on the agenda is 'Nutrition and disordered eating in dance' which would be really  good evidence for my inquiry to hear first hand from some of the UKs leading dance practitioners on this topic and I would love to attend it but unfortunately I will already have left the country to start a summer dancing contract.

 Anyone researching any of these issues in their studies may be interested in going along or even from a general interest point of view of  being involved in the dance profession. I certainly will check out the website after the conference to read up on the  feedback and findings and may well post something here on the blog.

Just one word of caution to any dance students out there -  it is £40 per ticket for non DUK members, so with travel expenses to London etc, it could be an expensive day out especially to a student who probably has limited funds anyway, but I'm sure a  day which would be useful and informative with good practical advice for any dance practitioner.

I have used Dance UK's website many times in relation to my inquiry as it does have lots of useful information and advice, unfortunately to join means a membership fee which to a student or dancer just starting out on their career on very basic pay or claiming benefits whilst they find work,  is a lot of money and many cannot afford the luxury as attractive as it may be.

Many of us already  have Equity fees monthly and fees to Dance Agencies which advise of jobs and auditions, which tends to be foremost in the mind, and the cost of daily classes and certainly I know from my own experience and perspective I cannot afford to then join Dance UK as well as much as I have looked at the web site and thought what a good advocate it is for the dance profession.

Many of the leading dance practitioners from the UK do contribute  and support the organisation ( ie Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Wayne Mc Gregor and many leading dance artists and professionals).

 Dance UK is a "membership organisation for all dancers and the national voice for the dance profession. It aims to improve the conditions in which dance is created, performed and experienced".

It is encouraging and inspirational to all dancers that within the UK we do have a national voice that will lobby government to raise the profile of dance and ultimately to increase investment in all sectors of the dance industry. My criticism is that none of the work is regulated or embedded into the educational system and in particular the vocational training colleges and it is up to individuals whether they take on board any of the advice or best practices. It is really down to the individual dancer to take responsibility for their own health and well-being which may be at odds with the desire to get on in the industry and be successful. I agree with the statement that 'Knowledge is power' and that we all need a healthy attitude towards our own well-being but when young dancers are faced with the dilemas of the pressures from the industry it can be hard not to give in. Even the best and most successful dancers have caved in to that pressure in order to try and achieve a body ideal. It is about making your own choices, 'Your body Your risk',  I totally agree with the statements in the Dance UK booklet but  when your choices mean you cannot persue your dream to dance you may just fall by the wayside.

This is where the gap exists as far as my conclusions from all the research I have done over the last 15 months indicates. It is no good investing in good health education for dancers if they are not recognised within the industry and there is a long, long way to go in changing the attitudes of dance practitioners and society to accept the 'healthier' dance body as the norm.  

 All this advice can only work if it is actively used, interpreted, reviewed and revised over time. It cannot be a matter of personal taste or choice whether to follow the code in professional behaviour and those who do not should be held accountable for their actions. Adherence to such a code should be encouraged by incorporation into the educational process and should be regulated. Attitudes and behaviours need to change - a code is of no use if practitioners can pay ‘lip service’ to it and are not held accountable if they break the code - “it is merely what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules!".

Unless a dancer can argue that what someone says to her, that the language amounts to sexual harassment, sexual discrimination or disability discrimination there is not much a dancer can do legally if she is subject to the familiar negative body shape and size remarks made by teachers and peers.

This is the real crux of my inquiry and  the barrier to changing attitudes, behaviours and beliefs. Many celebrities are using their influence and openly in magazines and newspapers advocating healthy bodies and talking about their issues and problems with body image and eating disorders but for the very humble student dancer at the bottom of the food chain, suffering her body issues alone, striving for recognition and success,  this can only be words of encouragement and inspiration to keep going and nothing more and the  pressures on Monday morning when she returns to class will still be very real.  

 The power of college entrance selectors, company directors, teachers and  choreographers cannot be underestimated as an influence on the dancers body image, their 'subjective preferences' and 'selection criteria' are paramount. They hold the key to the profession for the young dancer because of the high costs involved. Their view matters as it can result in a role, a placement, training opportunities, funding and can be life changing for the individual dancer. Managers of dance companies rely on the dancers to dance for them and to look a certain way because this is what they have found to be successful for the company.



In my experience and observation, dancers do  interpret the intentions and choices made in daily classes, at rehearsals, during auditions, it is only natural and normal human behaviour. We all at an audition can see what they are hiring and we have all been trained and can recognise good technique, skill, musicality and stamina and can all see when 'the preferred look' has been the criteria. I've lost count of the number of times at auditions the director has said what he is looking for only to choose the aesthetic look over ability to do the required routine. Many respondants to my blogs and questionnaires feel the same way. It is a recurring theme.   

DANCER: "I wish I could walk out of an audition thinking well I danced well but the ones they chose were better at that style or something positive instead of continually being disillusioned in thinking they just picked the tall, skinny one who couldn't even  remember the 8 bar routine."       

Dancers are athletes and their achievements are hard won, the result of years of intensive training, determination and continual physical challenge says the Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP ( My Body My Risk , Dance UK 2001). The difference for an athlete is the winner is whoever jumps the highest, throws the farthest, crosses the finishing line first, it is measureable but for a dancer it is subjective.   

   I did a specific blog on ethics and codes of conduct in Module 2 (see: "Its more what you'd call guidelines - March 2011).

http://emilyrose91.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/it-is-more-what-youd-call-guidelines.html

This is the gap I discovered at the end of my research for Module 2  - there is improved education and information out there for dancers but until it is embedded and regulated for, attitudes and behaviours won't fundamentally change. Although there is an increased number of colleges and dance companies adopting an healthier dancer regime, they are not obliged to and so progress  and improvement is slow, but  does offer some light at the end of the tunnel. Some companies are starting to adopt policies of best practice in casting and some have even added references to disordered eating. However if weight or body issues are an issue within auditions, castings, competitions, selection criteria then it is the company or colleges decision and the dancer has no individual rights. Until it is regulated within vocational colleges that there is someone for a student to go to confidentially to talk to  and this widely made available then schools and training establishments can still put pressure on a dancer to lose weight.

Very often that pressure is that you should look thinner in order to get a job and be successful as a dancer or to get particular roles. It is often very difficult for girls to speak out for fear of reprisals as often you feel so alone. I think every vocational college should adopt a healthier dancer policy and advocate healthy dancers. I also think they should have student counsellors within each establishment who understand the issues and  can provide the correct level of support . Many are only supportive once the dancer has obviously got an eating disorder. I would like to see 'prevention rather than cure' advocated in schools and colleges.          

Dance UK does have some very useful fact sheets, leaflets and booklets though and one in particular I have used as a reference document throughout my research in Module 3 is "Your body, Your risk" (2001). I did have to buy the booklet but at £4-50 this was relatively cheap.

The booklet is designed for dancers and looks at ways they can deal with the pressures and problems they can face and the dangers eating disorders can pose to a dancers health and career. There are lots of useful informative advice which is easy to read and concise and it encourages a healthy dancer who has self-belief and self worth.

" Be the best dancer you can be which means looking after your body and enjoying its achievements. There is no absolute, ideal body shape. Different dance styles, cultures and choreographers emphasise different shapes and other qualities in their dancers."

It is endorsed by many leading practitioners in the world of dance and medicine and has inspiring and motivational quotes from leading dance directors.

"It's about quality and performance, not just physical shape. I've always been very interested in what  you can do with training. It's about being strong, fit and healthy - and making the most of the dancer you are."  David Nixon, Artistic Director, Northern Ballet Theatre.

However, the rhetoric is the easy bit, it's the gap that needs filling - even some of those high level dance practitioners advocating healthy dancers who say shape and size is not an issue  if you go to see a performance by their company the 'realism' is not on the stage, the dancers are all the same aesthetically and 'skinny'. As much as I love to watch dance productions, the ' skinny look' is still the norm in the female dancers. The only company I have seen recently who had dancers who looked  anything like 'normal' women dancing on stage was Matthew Bourne. I think till generally we see a change up on the stage then the problems will be in perpetual motion for the industry despite the ground work of organisations like Dance UK.

Dance UK have a manifesto which advocates 'dance for all' as many young girls are not taking physical exercise in sports and so dance is seen as a way to encourage physical activity in the curriculums in schools. So we see a very talented young girl, we encourage her, we train her and she decides that is her chosen career path but then at vocational level we tell her, sorry love but someone should have told you at age 11 that you are the wrong shape and size for dance, you'll never make it as a dancer unless you lose weight and your normal female curves. The two in my very humble opinion just do not marry together. We can't have our cake and eat it as we say in my part of the world - we can't advocate dance for all and happy, healthy dancers who don't conform to a skinny aesthetic ideal but then reject them as professionals. One goes hand in hand with the other as far as I can see it in my simplistic view. I would like to have had the opportunity to have asked one of the speakers why then are their dancers all 'skinny'? I don't think it can always just be a coincidence that the skinny ones are the best dancers in technique and ability that defeats the law of averages. Remember at all times that when we talk of 'thin' and 'fat' in dancers we are not talking about the same aesthetics that exist for the general population  - 'dancer thin' and 'dancer fat' are a whole different size and shape.     

If anyone out there in BAPP land does attend the conference I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts and opinions on the issues discussed and whether it was worthwhile in view of my line of inquiry and the issues discussed in this blog ................. and of course any comments, views , opinions on any of the above views will be welcome.

References:

Your Body Your Risk  - Dance UK (2001)

http://www.danceuk.org/