What Is a “Ballet Body”?
If one were to type ‘dancer’s body’ into an online search engine, this very question would appear as a popular search result: ‘What is a “ballet body”?’. Click on this search link and in response thousands of workout routines and diet plans would appear below, advertising the secret to achieving the widely desired ballet dancer’s body. In today’s modern western culture, many females relate with one another in the shared goal to have “dancer legs,” “dancer arms,” and so on. But what exactly is this perfect idolized body type that is the common goal of females everywhere? And who established that this is what the exact dancer’s body type should and would be?
Rewind back in history to earlier eras of the dance world. The dancers, even ballerinas, were much larger and muscular (See Appendix A).
Fast-forward to today’s modern ballet companies, and young dancers are hospital-ridden due to extremely low body weights and lack of adequate nutrition. The 19th century female dancer’s body has evolved from earlier dancers in history in that emphasis is now placed on extreme thinness. But when in time did the ideal female dancer’s body change? And what caused it to change?
It all began with founder of America’s first world-class ballet school, New York City Ballet, George Balanchine, who is considered one of the most influential persons in 20th century dance. He is known as the father of American ballet; however, behind the curtain he was known as a very overbearingly powerful director. He was the one who decided who got to dance, what they danced, and when. He created more ballets than any other choreographer in the world, all designed with a specific type of dancer in mind. Therefore, any young girl who wished to be cast by this great master had to go through great lengths to meet his satisfaction- including sexual relations, marriage, drugs, and eating disorders- all in hopes of his approval and their rise to success and stardom.
In attempting to create his company of perfect elite dancers (See Appendix B), Balanchine promoted anorexia and bulimia in females who strived to achieve the body he imagined dancing his ballets. Balanchine admitted that his choreography was all based on the structure of the female body. “Balanchine was looking for: length — length of leg, length of arm, length of neck, which goes right through to smaller heads,” explains Peter Boal, Artistic Director for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, in Pointe Magazine’s 2011 article “Too Fat? Too Thin? Too Tall? Too Short?.”
In Elizabeth Kiem’s book, George Balanchine: The Human Cost of an Artistic Legacy, Balanchine’s ideal body type was described by one of his students and lovers, famous ballerina Suzanne Farrell (See Appendix C) who emerged in the ’60s, as “leggy, linear,” “beautiful,” young, tall, and frighteningly skinny. Balanchine liked to see bones and ribs. His fantasy, however, was an impossible structure to achieve, causing him to take the blame for the beginning of the diseases of eating and body disorders present in the dance world. “What we accept as the ‘tradition’ of extreme thinness is arguably just a mid-to-late 20th century whim of the white ballet establishment,” as quoted in Paula Kelso’s research investigation “Behind the Curtain: The Body, Control, and Ballet.” The rise of the problem at hand is that choreographers, directors, casting agents and the likes established a body ideal that forced female dancers to conform to that specific body type.
As a result of the establishment of American ballet and its unrealistically ideal image of the female body, dancers began to dangerously jeopardize their health in sacrifice for the art of dance (See Appendix D). Dancers are usually seen as beautiful and graceful creatures, but the truth behind the curtain is that backstage “they often times look emaciated and injured, collapsing offstage after performances or limping to their dressing rooms,” Kelso describes. In her book The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill, Author Maggie Wykes compares the two different time periods in examination of the effect of modern media on its female consumers. She describes the increasing wave of eating disorders, distorted body image, and impossible beauty ideals as a result of current pressure for females to have a specific body image. “Many young women deprive themselves of nutrition to the extent that they risk serious illness and even death,” Wykes explains.
According to specialist Patricia Fallon, author of book Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders, throughout history such illnesses became more prevalent in women as sufferers as opposed to men. She noticed the change in the ideal female body and exclaims, “In less than two decades the acceptable female body size had been whittled down by one-third, and most women could no longer fit into it.” Principal dancer for the San Francisco Ballet, Maria Kochetkova, admits, “If I were dancing 30 years ago, I would be normal.” Women began to starve, purge, and use drugs in order to achieve the perfect body type, and furthermore for female dancers alike, so that they could pursue the dance profession. As a result, dancers lost health, bone density, adequate nutrition, and ability to live an active, healthy long lifestyle.
In the article entitled “Impact of Body Mass Index on Body Image Dimensions: Results from a Body-Image Questionnaire Designed for Dancers” published in Medical Problems of Performing Arts, expert Boris Milavic also proves that there is a significant difference between male and female body image. In Milavic’s study, he collected data from dancers who expressed their body image self-perception based on their weight and amount of fat. “Dancers with the lowest BMI found themselves more attractive,” he concluded with the results. This indicates that a dancer’s perception of the health of their body is based solely on the amount of fat they have, a direct consequence of the unachievably thin standards of the ideal dancer’s body.
So how does one expect to break this dangerous and destructive cycle of fasting and purging for the passion of dance? For a while, the public was unaware of the darkness on the other side of the curtain, because the fragile and weak bodies performed with beauty and grace, hiding the illnesses and harsh conditions. However, as the female body onstage continuously evolved, families, friends, and audiences began to notice how thin the dancers were becoming and they decided to object to the extreme and unsafe thinness. But how thin is too thin? How far can a dancer chase the desire to be small before it becomes more of a hazard to her health than a beauty ideal?
A turning point in this issue was when professional dancers began to break the silence about their struggles to achieve the perfect body type, finally exposing the public to the horror behind the scenes of what their directors were putting them through. For example, famous ballerina Gelsey Kirkland (See Appendix E) with the New York City Ballet, under the direction of Balanchine, shared her deep memoirs of her life as a dancer in her truthful autobiography titled Dancing on My Grave.
In her book, which provides real insight to a dancer’s world and her struggle with body image in ballet, she openly blames Balanchine for her anorexia, bulimia, and drug addiction that almost killed her. Her dream to be a successful dancer came at the expense of her sanity and health. Published in 1986, this was the first time a ballerina openly fought for the art of dance. Balanchine “demoralized each female dancer in her despair that she did not look like someone else,” and with Kirkland weighing less than 100 pounds, he was still not satisfied, thumping on her chest bone saying, “Must see the bones. Eat nothing.”
The disease of eating and body disorders that plagues the dance world unfortunately is here to fight a never-ending battle. Since the turn of the century with the performing arts industry gaining a standard ideal for dancers in shows, audiences and the public have come to expect the dancers onstage to look a certain way, and criticize when they don’t because it appears out of the ordinary. The relationship between dancers and the thin female body ideal is ongoing, and continues to worsen every day.
In researcher Elisana Pollatou’s article “Body Image in Female Professional and Amateur Dancers,” she concludes that so long as a young woman is participating in dance, this will most likely lead to body image disorders. In her study, published as Research in Dance Education, Pollatou discovers a link in dance participation with body image disturbances due to the thin ideal that is preferable. “Negative body image refers not only to body dissatisfaction but also to excessive cognitive and behavioral investment in one’s physical appearance in defining one’s self,” and unfortunately, as long as a thin body is the ideal female form, dancers are going to continually be negatively affected both physically and psychologically in this profession. Dance therapist Swami Viren also examined the association between dance participation and body image through surveys with dancers about their negative body appreciation versus their actual body weight discrepancy. His study found that those exposed to the world of dance for a longer period of time are more apt to have less body appreciation. He concluded in his research that “advanced ballet and contemporary dancers both had significantly higher body weight discrepancy compared with their beginner counterparts.” This illustrates the harmful effect of belonging to a dance company as the choreographers and directors constantly pressure dancers to strive for a certain weight.
Until casting and artistic directors decide to stand out of the status quo and make a bold statement by hiring realistic, healthy-looking dancers, the ideal female dancer body is not going to change any time soon. “The health and sanity of dancers are being sacrificed for this art form. Until dancers, audiences, and management accept a new, healthier paradigm, dancers will continue to suffer,” sociologist Kelso confirms. When casting dancers to work with, Artistic Director of the Nashville Ballet, Paul Vasterling, admits, “The fact is, women have to be able to be lifted by their partners, and men have to be strong enough to lift the women.” Dorothy Gunther Pugh, Artistic Director for Ballet Memphis also adds, “I have to pare down a group of 350 pretty quickly, and the first thing I determine is which bodies are right for us… dancers’ bodies need to look a certain way to make the kind of pictures we want for classical ballet.” It is no wonder dancers believe they must succumb to the pressure to be thin.
There is some optimism in the dance world, however, with recent choreographers who are known for taking risks. In contrast to Balanchine’s New York City Ballet, the diversity of choreographer Paul Taylor’s dance company (See Appendix F) in the 70s and 80s compared to the uniformity of others is strikingly different.
In comparing the weight, height, and skin color of those in Taylor’s company, his dancers clearly contrast those who are proclaimed ‘Balanchine dancers.’ Artistic Director for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peter Boal, explains what Balanchine looked for in female dancers- “longer legs, shorter torsos, long necks and small heads.” In contrast, when Paul Taylor was asked what attributes (aside from great skill and technical ability) are essential in the dancers he chooses, he replied, “Passion and commitment to one’s chosen profession.” This is a completely different perspective on what one looks for in dancers compared to Balanchine’s high standards. One young dancer describes her personal experience:
“When I was 13, a Russian dancer shook his head when he saw me eating a banana, remarking that it had too many calories. I know it was because he wanted to help me. My teacher had told me I needed to watch my body because I have a tendency to be more muscular. I knew there were contemporary companies that would love my build, but my passion was classical ballet” -Melissa Sandvig
Thus, even though there is a sliver of hope for dancers who are willing to settle for the abstract world of modern dance, it is still extremely difficult for ladies with muscles and curves to enter the world of classical ballet.
So in what ways has the ideal female dancer’s body changed over time? Well, instead of appreciating dancers for their talent and artistry, they are hired and cast based on appearance and body size. No longer is dance a form of expressive art, but rather a showcase of deathly ill young women who would sacrifice anything, including their health, to do what they love. “Having the right technique and strength is not nearly enough to dance professionally, one must also exhibit the right ‘look.’ This look, as discussed previously, is unhealthy and almost impossible to achieve,” explains Kelso in discussing the control the artistic management exerts over their dancers’ bodies and appearances.
The pressure of the unbelievably unattainable body standards required in getting a professional job in the field has caused dancers to go from athletic curvy bodies to fragile and bony structures. The future of the dancer’s body doesn’t look too bright, as Kelso mentions, “The health and sanity of dancers are being sacrificed for this art form. Until dancers, audiences, and management accept a new, healthier paradigm, dancers will continue to suffer.” As a consequence of this ideal body evolution over time, the dancer’s body has become prized and valued by all. In this modern culture of thin female body ideals, an online search of “how to get a dancer’s body” certainly is a trending topic.
Resources
Fallon, Patricia. Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders. New York: Guilford, 1994.
Kelso, Paula. “Behind the Curtain: The Body, Control, and Ballet.” Edwardsville Journal of Sociology. Southern Illinois University, n.d.
Kiem, Elizabeth. “George Balanchine: The Human Cost of an Artistic Legacy.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Jan. 2014.
Kirkland, Gelsey. Dancing on My Grave: An Autobiography. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1986.
Milavic, Boris. “Impact of Body Mass Index on Body Image Dimensions: Results from a Body-Image Questionnaire Designed for Dancers.” Medical Problems of Performing Arts 27.2 (2012): 95.
Pollatou, Elisana. “Body Image in Female Professional and Amateur Dancers.” Research in Dance Education 11.2 (2010): 131–37.
Suzanne, Nichelle. “A Few Words With Paul Taylor.” Dance Advantage. N.p., 23 Feb. 2010.
“Too Fat? Too Thin? Too Tall? Too Short?” Pointe Magazine. N.p., Apr. 2011.
Viren, Swami. “Dancing Toward Positive Body Image? Examining Body-Related Constructs with Ballet and Contemporary Dancers at Different Levels.” American Dance Therapy Association 34.1 (2012): 39.
Wykes, Maggie. The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill. London: SAGE, 2005.
