The Elephant in the Studio

If you don't understand the picture I've added, I'll sum it up for you, eating disorders. Its the elephant in the studio for a reason, every studio has had a problem with eating disorders at some point. The balance between maintaining proper dancer weight and becoming obsessed with losing weight is a hard line. In my profession I've heard several girls complain about their weight and a smaller number coming forward to tell me they have a problem and need help.

From my personal experience a skewed view of yourself is very easy to come by. I was bulimic for years without my parents knowledge. Its not like they weren't paying attention either. Teenagers are very adept at hiding things they don't want you to know about. The studio atmosphere I grew up in very focused on how much you weigh, girls would argue over whether or not they should have an entire serving of Wheat Thins or just half almost daily.

One person who was very close to me was borderline anorexic for years without anyone knowing. Our teacher gave us a diet that literally consisted of about 300 calories a day. The person in question stuck to it as much as possible but once her mother realized how little she was eating, she put a stop to it. The girl in question then started to develop anorexia, which she suffered with for at least three years. Why? Because her breasts developed to a B cup size and her teacher told her she'd never get a job working for anyone if she remained that "heavy looking."

Dance is a hard field to understand. The typical body type for dance has been the Balanchine ballerina for almost four decades, however recent dancers are learning more and more about how to protect themselves from the harsh ballet world's view of what they should look like and are becoming more womanly looking over the years. Look at Misty Copeland of ABT, yes she is still skinny, but look at her thighs and her chest. She has the body of a woman and not the body of a prepubescent woman-child.

Many studies have been conducted on what a dancer should eat verses what they typically do eat and its still a hot topic for most old school teachers too. For every new age teacher, there are fifteen old school teachers that say "Back in my day...." Unfortunately for the die hards, they won't be around for forever and while most take this as a sign to force their ideals onto their students, smarter teachers realize the world around them is changing. Don't get me wrong, a plie is still a plie and a tendu is still a tendu, but our bodies have changed since America's golden age of ballet and moving into the second decade of the 21st century our perspective on the human body is changing with it.

One look at each season of SYTYCD proves my theory. You can't do all these amazing feats of athleticism without having stronger, larger muscles. The ballet world is changing and its time to stop putting so much pressure on children and young women to remain unhealthily tiny.

As always, Message me or comment on here, My Lovelies! I'd love to hear some feedback! -Ms Ivy