Response to SIG

Posted as a response on SIG discussing body imagery and self:  

I  was asked to keep a food diary and talk to the health & fitness tutor once a fortnight when I was weighed in. My mum helped me keep a food planner. Each week on a Sunday we’d plan my meals every day for the next week over the phone following the ‘Diet for Dancers’ regime of healthy eating. My problem really was not weight. I have a very muscular physique so low body fat and of course my shape – I have curves!

I have tried to open up my line of questioning around the ethics of teaching methods – see my recent blogs  over the last couple of days – lots of interesting questions around genetics and how this effects our shape and the ‘teaching by terror’ regime.

I know weight is an issue that seems common amongst dancers but I am interested in the whole body imagery issue and how negative feedback about any aspect of our self can be damaging to self esteem and confidence. What about dancers with racial or disability prejudice? Has any one experienced this ?  

I suffered from comments from other students as well as tutors.

For example at my college it was always the same few people who were picked to represent the college at outside events – open days/Move It etc and on one occasion after checking the notice board and commenting that my name wasn’t there again, I was told, “Oh they only pick the attractive people!” So  you go home and obsess some more  - you’re not only too big but you’re ugly as well!

I often felt I was not worthy. If you didn’t have legs like so and so you were not attractive, if you didn’t have a six pack like so and so etc etc etc and on it went day after day and the constant comments  affect your self esteem and confidence. Tutors would say – isn’t so and so beautiful – Emily you need to look more like so and so! Well baby my genetics and body shape and height say otherwise!!! They always implied these would be the ones who got work and such as me would be left behind – this actually in reality has not been the case!

I don’t think people realise just how damaging the affects can be. It is a form of bullying! I want to use my experiences in my professional practice to try and help others who may feel as I did. I often felt alone and ashamed and it was only the support from my Mum that kept me ‘in the game’.

Another example is I was constantly at war it seemed with the ballet faculty. They would not allow girls to wear bras under their leotards but the regulation college uniform leotards did not have in-built support and someone like me with boobs needs support. I even went out and bought a navy leotard which I hoped they wouldn’t notice was not uniform,  that had in built support but if they noticed ( which they frequently did) I was in trouble for that too. Ballet which had been the love of my life for years became a nightmare and I dreaded the lessons. If I tried to explain I was told I had attitude problems. I was in a no win situation and I was very miserable. No one it seemed understood and I got no support (pardon the pun!) People can be so narrow minded!

So I would love you to  share your experiences as I consider the ethics behind the teaching and coaching methods and how this links into dance science  as I try to develop a question for my inquiry. Please read my blogs and get posting some discussions.

And what about you guys out there? I know these issues are not strictly confined to girls. Many negative and humiliating comments were made to the guys at my college too – about muscles, pecks etc and stamina.  I know a friend who auditioned for ‘Priscilla’ and the first requirement was to take your kit off to your underpants to see body shape and ripples.

A friend of mine left college and deferred for 2 years to combat an eating disorder. Fortunately he is now well and is back at college to complete his training. So come on guys give us the benefit of your experiences to add to the debate.  

Some would argue it’s only in our best interests, preparing us for the professional world – what do you think?   

Was I born to dance or taught to dance?

Reflecting on body image issues and questions it raises in relation to my line of inquiry I touched on genetics in my last blog after a comment from Hayley- Jane about inherited curvy hips but I wanted to pursue this line a bit further.

As a child I had a very normal up bringing in a small mining community. Dance was just one of my hobbies. I loved to dance but I also had swimming lessons, and was a competition swimmer. Always sporty and competitive I was an excellent runner and I also joined gymnastics, did horse riding and was a Brownie and I learned to play piano and flute. At such an early age I was just having fun, enjoying all my pursuits and had no idea what I would choose as a career path. My early indications were to be a writer as I loved books and stories. The passion to perform and for dance as a career choice came a little later.

 However thinking about my genes – my Dad was very sporty, a championship runner and rugby player and got a degree in engineering, my Mum trained as a concert pianist and then after a  career performing  became a musical director for local amateur dramatic companies and turned her hand to teaching and coaching singing and musical theatre in theatre schools. My great grandparents ran a ballroom dancing school and my grandad was a singer in the working men’s clubs in their ‘hey day’. So is it all in my genes or is it nurture rather than nature?!

People often say to me, “you take after your dad, he was very athletic”, or similarly relations on my mum’s side will say “you take after your mum with the performing it’s in your genes!” But is there any truth in it?

Some philosophers of genetics tells us we are born a blank slate and that through conditioning alone a child can be raised to be anything (B.F.Skinner) – the belief that children can be taught to attain  anything and it is how they are influenced in life as to whether they can reach their full potential. Others believe that 50% is genetics and whatever you are born with sets the potential and limit on what you can become.

So the question is ‘nature or nurture’ and which is the most influential?

Most researchers have concluded that both are interactive and both affect the other and influence who we become and how we behave. When you watch people do you wonder if they were ‘born to do that’ or if someone ‘taught them to do that’.


The common conclusion is that some are born with the potential to become a pianist others are not. Some of those will reach that potential if they are born into a family that can provide them with the support to learn the piano.


I think I can relate to this as  not everyone who has dance lessons has the potential to become a dancer some just do not develop the relevant skills no matter how much their parents pay for expensive training. Had they been a blank slate it should have been happening but genetically it just wasn’t happening. Therefore the reality is it is impossible to be a blank slate without any genetic traits and it is impossible to develop completely as a result of your genetic traits without any influence from your environment – we are both, our genetic coding and the experiences we have in life. We develop through information, experience and relationship.


How many times do we see children follow their parents down the same career path? This happens particularly in our performing industry, the arts and sports and even careers such as lawyers, doctors etc often follow suit.

I suppose my childhood was immersed in music and sports due to my parents’ influences but how would they know which to nurture as a potential career? They always said to me it had to be my choice of what I wanted to do, what made me happy and not what they wanted for me but they would be there to support me in whatever my choices may be.

How does this link in to my lines of inquiry and body image? Should my parents have encouraged me to follow my personal dream to dance when although having potential and all the facility for dance my own body shape could in the end stop me from realising the dream?
Should they have had me 'genetically' tested first to see what my inherited genes implied I should be suitable for ?

Apparently ballet schools can tell with children from about the age of 7 or 8 if they will have the required body shape! Perhaps if I’d been told at that age I wasn’t suitable for ballet I would have been saved years of frustration by recognising and accepting the advantages of my body type. I am learning to come to terms with it now in my professional life but I wasn’t prepared for that horror when I first left home at 16 to go to vocational college. At 11 when I suddenly became more into my dance than my other pursuits I was the right body shape it wasn’t until I was 14 that the curves started to appear and if you look at my family they’re all small, I certainly was never going to be tall, both sides of my gene pool are petite and slim, no one can work out where the boobs have come from on either side – a throwback somewhere in the gene pool? There must be some curvy ancestor somewhere in my family tree?!
Perhaps my parents should have checked back a couple of generations for any flaws before encouraging me to pursue dance?

Mina added a comment to my last blog that said ; "I've heard that the Vaganova Academy and the Paris Opera School check the applicants' grandmother's figure at entrance examination".
I certainly had to insert my parents height, weight etc on an application form for Royal Ballet associates.
How do others react to this? Do you think this is ethical? A sort of genetic selection of dancers?

I found an article where it discussed the selection of children in China and communist Russia for ballet and gymnastics from as young as 3 years old based on their genetics. In China they are taken and sent to special state-sponsored "boot-camp-style" training centers, where they endure rigorous training programs and are prepared for international competition. Some schools stress only sports and can be viewed as little more than athlete-producing assembly lines. They often require six hours of training or more a day.
Quote; “Many Chinese athletes have devoted so much of their time to training they can’t read beyond the fifth grade level”.  


This may well link into Melissa’s line of inquiry where she is discussing different forms of training in different countries and if other countries methods of training produce better dancers? Do we in this country find the ethical issues of applying genetic testing of young kids to choose our future dance and athletic stars morally wrong or to find that future Olympic champion would we embrace it?

Should parents only encourage their children to pursue activities that they are genetically suited for?

Does this take away our freedom to be who we want to be and freedom of choice?


I think this is a fascinating subject.

Mina also commented on my last blog; "I do agree that the genetic inheritage has great influence on one's physique, but it would be such a loss if that system excludes young talents from training, because physical perfection alone does not make a great dancer". I couldn't agree more and that is my reason for my research in this line of inquiry.

Just one more thought on how we are governed by our genetics reflecting on my own experiences.
We can also be a certain shape due to the activities we pursue as children and this may not be compatible with dance. For example; a dancer can have too much muscle. Some people can be genetically predisposed to a very muscular body type (mesomorphic genes). They can have a very low percent body fat yet still be considered ‘too heavy’ for their college specifications. I also come into this category. I have very defined muscles in my legs, I think inherited from my dad. There is little research been done on this subject but there are ‘body therapies’ one can try to elongate and change body shape such as pilates and yoga. It is trial and error and other than giving up dancing for a while to concentrate in these techniques I have to accept my mesomorphic genes may win out.

Some exercise outside of dance also interferes with the muscle groups and shapes the body in a way that doesn’t fit the mould for a dancer.
For example; I was a competition swimmer up to the age of 13 and particularly good at breast stroke and butterfly technique. When I arrived at Bird I was told the muscle bulk developed in my shoulders through swimming were wrong for a dancer and I had to lose that muscle. Of course as a young swimmer this had never entered my head that the muscles and body shape developed through swimming were wrong for dance. After 3 years at college, doing no competition swimming, I have finally lost the bulk on my shoulders and they’ve slimmed down.  

Our body shape then is governed by our genetics, how much we eat and how much we exercise and the kind of food we eat and the kind of exercise we do. This is dance science.

A dancer needs to be constantly aware of the body and focused on the process to achieve their goals by getting there in a healthy way through diet, exercise, well-being and a  knowledge in the prevention of injury. This is the bare bones of dance science. This is where my inquiry blog began in Module 1 and where my line of inquiry is developing. I want to pursue why young dancers should obsess about their body image when with the support of dance science and the right education in colleges about the body many could be saved the pain they go through obsessing about their image and could learn how best to improve their performance applying dance science.

As an academic discipline this is a relatively new phenomenon.
Dance science is the scientific study of dance and dancers as well as the practical application of scientific principles to dance. Its aims are the enhancement of performance, the reduction of injury and the improvement of well-being and health. Its specific concerns include the biomechanical, physiological, nutritional and paediatric and psychological aspects of dance.

If we could get more colleges on board to include dance science in the timetable  from an early age  then such horrors as being put on a fat list or told to do a class in cling film should be history and we should be able to save girls from thinking they should be ‘Portmanesque’ as portrayed in the 'Black Swan'.


I want to question whether the impact of such methods used in our colleges, ie: 'teaching by terror', is properly considered by dance professionals ( teachers, coaches, dancers, students choreographers and directors) and raise awareness to encourage debate about such ethical issues. The profession needs to be able to justify such as bullying or humiliating of students and persistent negative feedback as being desirable methods of teaching dance. I think there is a definite lack of understanding in the profession about the negative effects. This will be the subject of my next blog as I develop my line of inquiry with these ethical questions.






   

Reference:

Diet for Dancers -  Robin D Chmelar & Sally S Fitt

“Cling film?
I’m not a chicken drumstick!”

                                                                                                         

I was ‘gobsmacked’ (as we say in my part of the world) to read Hayley-Jane’s comment on my blog that a tutor at her college suggested she wrap herself in cling film for a whole ballet lesson in order to lose weight!

Remember Dave ( Mark Addy)  in ‘The Full Monty’, the lovable, insecure security guard who wraps himself in cling film in a desperate slimming attempt before the boys' big night?
He immortalised the line -  “Cling-film ? I'm not a chicken drumstick!”

And then there’s the really funny scene where he is sat in the shed wrapped in cling film eating a Mars bar!

It’s hard to believe a tutor could say that to a dance student and even harder to believe that they might be serious.
Ethical question again here I think? Is this 'Teaching by terror' - employing bullying and humiliating tactics to  try and get a desired effect? 

If you google the question;  Does cling film really help with weight loss? You may or may not be surprised how many hits you will get and how many desperate people have actually tried it. However according to most bloggers who tried it, it doesn’t work and I couldn’t find any evidence on any medical site to support it either so why on earth would a tutor at a dance college suggest it to a student and in front of other students. How degrading for Hayley-Jane?

Such inappropriate and humiliating tactics should not be allowed to happen in colleges and attitude such as this towards a dancer can cause a backlash of psychological problems and ruin someone’s life. I think there is a definite lack of understanding by professionals on the devastating effect this attitude can have on individuals. A dancer is a person! A dancer may not be 'average' but they are human beings.

Positive body image and support is needed not constant criticism and negative feedback.Just because a dancer’s particular body shape is out of the range of aesthetic requirements for such as the ballet world does not mean she/he cannot have a fulfilling career in dance. 

 One question I haven’t asked yet in relation to all this.
How come any of us were accepted in colleges in the first place – must have shown some potential in the audition?
Do these type of teachers think that they are just toughening us up for the professional world? This was suggested by tutors at my college.
Do they think that becasue unethical methods have been used in the past and dancers survived this makes it right?

I'm sure if challenged most would say they have only your 'best interests' at heart and I'm sure the majority do have 'good intentions' and only want the best for us but that does not justify those methods. I remember such a conversation with my ballet teacher at college.

Hayley – Jane also said in her comment that she inherited 'curvy hips' and cannot do anything to change them and this led me to think along the question of genetic influences on body composition and how this can be important in how dancers respond to the demands for thinness.

I read a research document conducted by former New York City Ballet dancer Linda Hamilton who compared dancers from a normal background to those who had gone through the strict regime and selection process from a very early age in company schools (eg; the Royal Ballet). She found that the dancers in company schools were naturally thinner, could eat more and maintain dance weight and had a significantly lower incidence of obesity in their families than those from a normal background.  She concludes that for dancers seeking a professional career within a ballet company they should carefully consider their DNA.

Dancers who do not naturally tend towards thiness may have to choose between battling their inherited body traits and modifying their dance goals. She suggests dancers who realise they were not born with sylph –producing DNA  should apply their energy to refocus towards dance careers that do not require an  ultra-thin body and also toward maintaining a healthy, fit body composition rather than trying to force an unhealthy skinny one. Her message is that counselling should be given to dancers whose family traits do not lend themselves to strict ballet standards as it does not mean that dancer is untalented or a failure as there are many other alternatives in performing, choreography and teaching that can be equally rewarding and fulfilling. (Hamilton et al.1988)

I never thought about it till now but this is obviously why when you audition at 11 for the Royal Ballet Associate Programme you have to put on your application form your parents height, weight, shoe size etc so they can consider you ‘genetically’.

 

Arlene Phillips in her review of the Black Swan in the Mail article says, “When I was 14, some of my friends went to the Royal Ballet School, but I wasn’t physically right. My body wasn’t perfectly ­proportioned; I had boobs and a bum. I went on to study tap, jazz, ­ballroom and musical theatre before setting up my own dance group and ­choreographing. But I never lost my love of ballet and was doing it up until my late 30s”.

According to one ex dancer with the New York City Ballet only 2% of the population are actually the perfect body shape for ballet.

Although appropriate diet and exercise may help a dancer get nearer to a desired goal weight, it seems we will be as curvy as our DNA dictates and it  seems it is widely accepted in the dance world that the aesthetics for ballet are written in ‘tablets of stone’ and therefore cannot be challenged.

I think I can easily answer my own question of why do dancers obsess? It is social pressure of what is accepted as the norm for a dancer and the expectation that all dancers will be 'skinny'. Discussing this issue on the SIG and blog shows this is still a very current issue in our college system and there is still a view amonst the teaching fraternity that  'skinny' has to be the expected norm so of course we obsess. 

My question not yet answered is why does this have to be?
Why can’t dancers be who they really are?
Why can't we embrace the good points in each and every one of us as individuals, not concentrating on defects or trying to re-shape us but respect us all so each can bring their own personality and individual colour to the world of dance?

Gene Kelly said, "If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I`m the Marlon Brando". Of course both had very successful acting careers in their own rights although very different so why shouldn't this apply to dancers?




Reference:

Diet for Dancers – Robin D. Chmelar & Sally S. Fitt.

 http://www.4dancers.org/2010/10/review-the-dancers-way-by-linda-hamilton-phd-and-new-york-city-ballet/

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

Looking for dancer, long and lithe with absolutely no womanly curves, flat -chested ballet dancer physique, skinny with a beautiful face to play Tinkerbell !!!

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





  

Does  my bum look big in this?..................................                                                                                                   developing lines of inquiry 

“Does my bum look big in this?” was a catchphrase from TV comedy show, ‘The Fast
Show’, with Arabella Weir as ‘Insecure Woman’. She also wrote a book with the same title which is a comic look at how little things can make a woman insecure and paranoid. Her character is a bit too paranoid to be believable on occasions and you do sometimes get annoyed with her habit for dissecting every nuance of a conversation and thinking that everyone thinks the worst of her but I think a lot of us who have felt insecurities with their own body image can relate to it and to the obsessive behaviour.

And does anyone else remember the scene in Bridget Jones where she raids the fridge and eats a whole jar of Branston pickle?! I can so relate to that, scouring the fridge and cupboards desperate for some comfort food to eat! I once ate a whole jar of chocolate dipping sauce in desperation!   

So why are dancers so obsessed with their weight and body image?

It seems my SIG post with regard to body image has caused a lot of discussion around eating disorders in dancers. In the previously mentioned article in The Mail by Arlene Phillips she says that “Dancers have to watch what they eat, but anorexia and bulimia are something else. Nowadays it is so well recognised and ballerinas in dance schools are safer now than ever with people watching out for their welfare.” However just because you don’t have either of these extremes does not mean the problem doesn’t persist , there are obviously still lots of ‘eating disorders’  at lots of dance colleges and among most of us dancers.

Most of us have diet horror stories concerning either ourselves or fellow dancers and considering the pressure put on dancers to be ‘thin’ there’s no wonder we become obsessive ‘thinaholics’.   

Natalie’s posting  saying she was put on an official ‘Fat List’ at college is definitely the most horrific and I’m sure is not ‘ethical’ and breaks all equality and discrimination rules. How does that affect your moral, your confidence and self esteem? Perhaps Natalie will expand and tell us how that made her feel.  Rest assured if there had been such a list at my college my name would have been on it!!

The fact is most dancers have normal or below normal body weights but they still do not meet the aesthetic standards demanded in the industry. Most of us must strive to reach that ‘perfect’; ‘ultra’ look which for most is unattainable and is extremely demanding both physically and mentally.

 Balanchine’s wispy thin look for ballerinas is still the norm in many companies and whilst the demand for thinness in show dancers and modern dancers may not be as severe, weight standards are still pretty low as opposed to what would be considered ‘normal’. Dancers are not average.

 Balanchine's vision, combined with Cechetti-based technique, gave way to the skinny and ethereal dancer. Ballet companies like their corps de ballet to look the same - which is why most of the girls are the same height and approximate weight within a company, also we mustn’t forget that the guys have to lift the girls.  

Ellie said she was sorry college pushed me to an eating disorder. I think it was the whole ethos. I was totally unprepared for the realities of strict weight requirements and the level of criticism. I was told I was too big and this had an effect on my whole well being. My self esteem and confidence suffered and the more I struggled to lose the weight the more of a failure I felt. Thin people are always portrayed as the popular people, those who are more beautiful and more successful so you relate the failure to lose weight with being a failure as a person.

As Ellie says, there is no escaping the studio mirrors. Obsession is a part of dance and you can’t escape it. The difference between someone looking at magazines and getting an eating disorder, and a dancer getting an eating disorder is that when you're a dancer you not only have your own head telling you that you need to be skinny, you have coaches and teachers telling you that too.

Being in front of a mirror in tights you notice every bulge, every imperfection. You have time to obsess because it's staring right back at you every day. And in class, when you are doing centre work next to a girl who is skinnier than you, you compare and obsess, it’s natural.

Like Eleanor I think it is rather comforting now to know I was actually not on my own even though at the time it, did feel that way. I didn’t know there were others experiencing and suffering all the same feelings I was.  I also felt ashamed to talk about it. There are those who think any responsible person can consciously control the desire to eat and therefore anyone can eat less until the desired weight is achieved. Therefore when the weight loss doesn’t happen you think you must be a total failure.

I thought as a line of inquiry this was very personal to me and very worthwhile to help others in my professional practice – just setting a facebook page up to discuss the issues has already been useful.

Opening up a line of communication with others who understand the problems and can share similar experiences is an idea I think I could take forward and develop to help others who may be afraid to talk openly.  I think by sharing our diet horror experiences and discussing them openly we can learn lessons to assist us and others in the future.

I think there should be some set guidelines and policies put in place regarding weight standards for students in vocational colleges. What do others think?

We should be promoting positive body image which is a healthy dancer both physically and mentally. 

One audition I went for at a top college weighed and measured you as you went through the door. The principal spoke to us as a group and warned us she waited outside McDonalds and KFC with a stick to poke any of her students who she caught eating there!!  I don’t know how serious she was about that but saying it was enough to put the fear of god in her students.

I also remember a very flippant remark made to me that I took as a joke at the time but now on reflection, I wonder if it was? 
I was dancing a duet at ‘Move It’ and I had already accepted my place at college, a 3rd year student was congratulating me on my performance and my success getting into Bird. He asked me what I was going to do now the performance was over and I said, “eat pizza I’m starving” and his reply, “Make the most of it, you won’t be able to eat pizza when you come to college !”  

Should there actually be any weight standards and if so how do we strike the balance between ensuring dancers are healthy but meet the aesthetic requirements?  And what are those standards to be?

Is it time to re-evaluate the systems in vocational dance colleges ?

It is so evident from talking to fellow dancers here and at auditions and classes that there are just too many dancers emotionally scarred by humiliating remarks made and other inappropriate tactics used not only about weight but about overall body image in general. 

What do others think?

In this modern society where we are always taught to be considerative of diversity and equality and there are discrimination laws and human rights laws challenged how can we as dancers  make sure we try to take responsibility to promote these issues for our own well being in a tough  industry?   

“Ugly Duck versus Beautiful Swan?”

As I was out on my run this morning my head was swimming with developing ideas for my lines of inquiry. I ran around a local beauty spot where there is a lake and decided to stop as I approached a part of the water where there were some swans and ducks.


I sat and watched for a few minutes contemplating the swans and then the ducks.
No doubt about it I had to admit the swans are more pleasing to the eye than the ducks. They are so tall, beautiful and graceful and glide on the water so elegantly while the ducks, whilst quite cute, don’t quite cut it – small, brown, dowdy and heavy by comparison.


I couldn’t help but think is there a connection here with my line of enquiry and what is expected by an audience of how a dancer should look?   

Cleopatra. Iconic legend or asthetically correct?

A night at the ballet...........................

After a lovely evening out at the ballet I thought I would have to blog about it and share with you my thoughts connected to my lines of developing enquiry.

I went to watch Northern Ballet’s new production of ‘Cleopatra’ at Leeds Grand Theatre.

I thoroughly enjoyed the production overall, I used to dance with Northern Ballet Theatre as an associate before training at Bird and I have always admired them as a ballet company as there are a lot of contemporary dance influences and they are always coming up with new ideas for productions and do push the boundaries of traditional ballet with their ideas of developing ballet as a piece of dramatic theatre, music and choreography! 'Dracula' and 'Hamlet' are perfect examples.

I thought the choreography and music were beautiful last night and the dancer playing Cleopatra was an amazing dancer and very inspiring. There were some amazing pas de deux and core numbers. I was, however, trying to view it thinking of some of the issues I have raised in relation to the body image of the dancer.

Cleopatra herself was one of history’s most iconic idols.She represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis. She is always put forward as a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world's most powerful men ( Julius Ceasar and Mark Anthony) are taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.

"For she was a woman of surpassing beauty, and at that time, when she was in the prime of her youth, she was most striking; she also possessed a most charming voice and a  knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to every one. Being brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate every one.” Cassius Dio (XLII 34)

Great beauty or not she has left a legacy behind her of being regarded as so.

Perhaps the most famous protrayal of  Cleopatra is in the film starring Elizabeth Taylor who was a voluptuous iconic star of the 1950’s who was renowned as being one the most beautiful women of that era complete with curves and sex appeal.  

The ballerina playing Cleopatra did not live up to this description, however she was aesthetically your perfect ballet dancer’s shape – flat chested, skinny legs and straight down. I think in some ways this spoiled the illusion and idea of her as arguably one of the most beautiful, sensual and seductive women in history as well as one of the most powerful as the last Egyptian Pharoh. She supposedly had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch.

The character was not portrayed with any real conviction.  She was a beautiful ballet dancer but not a real image that one would expect of Cleopatra. You could not believe the tiny little girl on stage could kill her own brother to take the throne of Egypt and then systematically ensnare Julius Ceasar and Mark Anthony. If we are to believe the legend she was so powerful that when she entered a room, Cleopatra was captivating and eluring to everyone with an unpresidented presence. I imagine you knew you were in the presence of a 'goddess'.

Isn’t it time if ballet is to move its boundaries to be more accessible and theatrical then they must change the attitude in relation to body image too?

I couldn’t help thinking what if they were to do a ballet about Marilyn Monroe?  

The same could be said for the ensemble dancers in some of the company numbers. The costumes were tiny skirts and bras showing off some very skeletal body shapes. As an audience you were able to see bones especially ribs and jutting frames. Some of the choreography was sexy and seductive but it didn’t come across this way as it was being performed by ‘twigs in a pretty costume’ [my description].  They were not convincing as 'sexy sirens' or womanly  -  more little girls in a sexy costume.

It did make me clearly see that I wouldn’t want to look like that even though dancing is important to me and I work endlessly at perfecting my fitness, technique and performance, I would actually like to fill out a lovely piercing blue costume like that and feel attractive and sensual in it.

I love watching ballerinas perform and I always think they’re beautiful with an individual elegance and beauty but many of the lead women characters that are portrayed in ballets except a few (Clara from The Nutcracker) are supposed to be beautiful women who have numerous admirers and someone with a ballet dancer’s physique does not bring this across to the audience.

Perhaps from a ballet perspective we have to believe it is the dancing that subjugates everyone but there are dancers with the correct sensual features who could be equally amazing ballet dancers! Or is this a delusionists attitude?  

So, as I said I really enjoyed the production from a ballet point of view but as a believable piece of dramatic theatre it falls short in realism. I would definitely recommend that you go see it but you will certainly see what I mean whilst you’re watching. The set was a bit of a let down too.

http://www.northernballet.com/

The more I reflect on this line of inquiry I come back to the same conclusion that dancers must be exceedingly slender and you either cut it or you don’t. The wispy thin look continues to be the aesthetic standards set in the ballet world and considering the pressure put on dancers it is no wonder thinness becomes an obsession. These are the realities of professional standards and the sylph like look, particularly in ballet, I think will prevail. The changes that are more visible in the contemporary world of dance where diversity and realism are embraced more I think are a long way off in ballet!