Analysis of Media story on the darker side of ballet schools.

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001qgpd/panorama-the-dark-side-of-ballet-schools (Television - BBC iPlayer)

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66720433 (Digital print)

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001qdt6 (Podcast)

Genre:

• Digital news/Newspaper/ Investigative documentary
• Cultural arts story

Platform:

• Digital print accessible on the web
• Television programme
• Podcast

Example of how the same story can be told using different mediums.

Constructed Audience:

• Dancers, ex-dancers, dance educators, medical professionals, and dance institutions.
• An English-speaking audience, geographically looking at London and Birmingham.
• Those with an interest or experience in the ballet industry.

Narrator:

• Reporter Mark Daly was visible on screen in the BBC Panorama investigation in addition to providing voiceovers.
• For the digital news report, this was primarily by him, with additional reporting by Hayley Hassall
• For the podcast, the reporter was Hayley Hassall, produced by Paul Grant, and edited by Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Character:

• Reporter Mark Daly for the BBC, Ex dancers and pupils of the schools, parents of the pupils, Dr Nicky Keay, Luke Jennings

Setting:

• Elmhurst Ballet School, The Royal Ballet School, performance theatre, interviewees homes, University College London,

Movement:

• Determination, dedication, getting into prestigious company/ballet school, receiving praise, being reprimanded, plan to alter body image.

In terms of temporality, they focused the story between 2004 and 2022 on some student’s experiences. There was use of flashbacks to see archival footage and imagery. There was use of both mimesis and diegesis as they had visual aids to show as well as moments where voiceovers were used to tell the story either by the reporter or someone else in the story.

Overall:

• The report investigates claims of bullying and body shaming at prestigious ballet schools. It deals with eating disorders and suicide associated with the idea of perfectionism to achieve what is deemed the ‘ballet body’.
• This is achieved through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data. In the form of in-depth interviews, quotes from organisations, numerical data and statistics.
• This article adds to a wider conversation surrounding mental and physical health in such competitive industries.
• They provided background information when points were made that contained technical terminology or ideas relevant to the industry, including histories of certain ideologies surrounding ballet i.e., George Balanchine’s ‘ballet body’.

Editorial Choices:

• BBC documentary title ‘The Darker Side of Ballet Schools’. This tells its audience what the documentary is about but also that it is being considered from another angle that is perhaps not so pretty.
• The digital news article headline is ‘Ex-dancers describe body-shaming at top ballet schools. This suggests the focus of the story is going to be on body shaming in ballet. It alludes to the personal struggles of students which might result in empathy from an audience perspective.

Visuals:

• The documentary provides lots of visual aids and has trigger warnings for images that viewers might find disturbing or harmful to view such as severe anorexia.
• Alongside these alarming images are also images of professional production shots of dancers.
• There was also footage recorded by the pupils themselves during rehearsals.
• In the news article, the initial image is one of a dancer on point in a balletic pose. The caption underneath reads “Grace says she was told she needed to lose weight”. This photo paired with the caption may shock an audience at the thought of this individual being told she needed to lose weight. There are several more images in the article of ex-pupils both in a professional capacity as well as stills taken during the interview.
• In the last few minutes of the video, they had everyone that they interviewed sitting and holding a photo of themselves as a dancer, whilst the voiceover delivered the harsh reality of this industry. This was a clever use of mimesis as it allowed the audience to immerse themselves in their individual stories. It makes the story more memorable because it affects the senses.

Numbers and data:

• Numbers and statistics are used within the documentary and article, adding credibility to this story.
• “The BBC has spoken to more than 50 ex-students of the Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst Ballet School who attended between 2004 and 2022.”
• The video used the journalistic concept of the power of 3 to collect ideas together e.g., Perfectionism, self-motivation, and determination.

Changes I would have made:

• Overall, I found this an informative and compelling piece (in all 3 mediums)
• While numbers were used within both the digital article and the documentary, more statistics would have helped.
• They were unable to get an interview with either institution only statements, I would have looked for other avenues to explore to obtain more information, maybe by way of networking with other relevant sources.

Questions this raised for me:

• Are there any other ballet schools that are being investigated for similar claims?
• What preventative steps can be taken at an earlier point to stop this from continuing?
• Are there any initiatives or programmes being put in place to support the mental and physical health of ballet students because of these findings?