Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn). “Just as musicians have their instruments, dancers have their bodies” (Price and Pettijohn 991). The body is the only tool in which a dancer has to create art and express themselves. For this reason, there is a constant focus on the body. This constant focus, and constant pressure, can cause the dancers to develop concerns and a negative body image. The term body image can be defined as “the way in which people see themselves in the mirror everyday: the values, judgments, and ideas that they attach to their appearance” (Kelso 1). From childhood people perceive themselves in a certain way. They learn of how to feel about their ... ... middle of paper ... ...ge Dangerous, Warns Eating Disorder Expert”. Digital Journal. 24 February 2011. Web. 27 October 2011. Dunning, Jennifer. “Eating Disorders Haunt Ballerinas”. New York Times. 16 July 1997: 11. Acedemic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print. Kelso, Paula. “Behind the Curtain: The Body, Control and Ballet”. Edwardsville Journal of Sociology. 3:2. (2003). Web. 25 Nov. 2011. Price, Brena and Pettijohn, Terry. “The Effect of Ballet Dance Attire on Body and Self-Perceptions of Female Dancers”. Social Behavior and Personality. 34.8 (2006): Web. 991-998. Toro, Josep et al. “Eating Disorders in Ballet Dancing Students: Problems and Risk Factors”. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. And Eating Disorder Association. 28 October 2011. Print.
to the world of professional dance where incidents of Anorexia almost appear to be an occupational hazard as demands for thinness prevail in the dance world. The film explains that dancer’s tend to be abnormally thin, often 15% below ideal weight, which is the equivalent of an anorexic weight. Today the profession recognizes that this is a deadly psychiatric disorder which
However, despite attempts at resolving eating disorders, it is still not enough. 16.4% of all dancers still have been classified with a general eating disorder, 4% with anorexia, 2% with bulimia, and 14.9% diagnosed with an eating disorder not otherwise specified (Arcelus). Many companies, also, continue to select their dancers by their physical appearance instead of their ability to dance, which places the dancers under a lot of stress and pressure to change their bodies to fit the standards of these desired companies. Grace Edwards also points out that it is not only the dance community’s fault for having such high standards on dancers, but also the audience. Edwards says that, as spectators, people are accustomed to thin dancers that an average body structure would be considered “distasteful.”
As sport acts as a microcosm of society, many issues found in sport such as gender stereotyping, female discrimination, sexploitation and racism, can also be found outside of sport. The cultural level holds immense power in influencing all levels of the framework, with socialisation of factors regarding race, culture, femininity and masculinity filtering through each level and either directly or indirectly impacting the individual level. Both male and female participation in dance is influenced by gender stereotypes with hegemonic beliefs about masculinity and femininity limiting or enhancing both genders equity and access into dance. Within our media saturated society, females dancers are urged to sexualise themselves in order to serve the
Powers, P.S., & Johnson, C. (1996). Small victories: Prevention of eating disorders among athletes. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 4, 364-367.
At a gymnastics meet in Budapest, a U.S. judge commented that gymnast Christy Henrich would have to lose weight if she wanted to make the Olympic team. On July 26, 1994, Christy Henrich died of multiple organ failure. She had lost a long battle with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Dancers often times have many pressures put on them, which can lead to physical and emotional damage. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers. One of the hardest pressures that dancers have to overcome is the pressure from the media. The media places harsh, rigid, and false ideas of dancers on to the mass public. Constantly bombarded by commercials, magazine ads, posters, etc., the idea of being thin and beautiful is what the society thinks of as the “norm”.
The issue, although heavily impacted by the campaigns, has manifested itself in a sport that strives for perfection, dance. The instructors, the audiences, and the dancers themselves encourage the intangible goal of a perfect body. Larkin McPhee, the director of the documentary Dying to be Thin captures the pressure in a scarily accurate film. The title of the movie screams out what many are trying to say: girls around the world are dying everyday just to fit the image that the media has set up for society. Entertaining is the dancers profession, and because of this they are forced into a business where imagery is everything. “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, says one girl interviewed for the documentary, “this is what encourages me
Eating disorders are a very serious increasing problem that an individual may develop. Eating disorders can be characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, refusal to eat, and even frantic efforts to avoid weight gain such as purging as discussed by the National Institute of Mental Health (2014). Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are discussed within the video Dying to Be Thin. Throughout the video emotions and anxieties over having an extremely slender, narrow body structure are discussed by women who are in the dancing profession. It is explained throughout the video about how much pressure there is on these women to be shaped a specific way for the looks of a performance.
Su ndgot- Borgen, J. (1 994). Risk and Trigger Factors for the development of eating disorders in elite female athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exer,cise, 26(4).
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “Silent Dancing.” Encounters: Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 145-51.
Both Mary – Elizabeth Esquibel, in her article “Why Dance Will Always Be a Sport” and the infographic entitled “Is Dance a Sport?” attack this controversial dilemma. Even though these arguments use different formats, they use
13. Sundgot-Borgen, J. (1994). "Risk and trigger factors for the development of eating disorders in female elite athletes". Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 414-418.
Dance is considered a sport for some people, and some don't. This research is about the physical and mental benefits of dance. According to the Oxford Dictionaries, dance is, “A series of steps and movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music (2014 Oxford University Press). This research paper will be referring to dance mostly as a sport instead of an art. This essay briefly explains what dance is, and different forms of dance. This essay explains what dance does to benefit you mentally and physically, going into detail of diseases and problems you could prevent or cure with dance.
Individuals can experience release, whether from worldly cares or from physical tension, through the marvelous art form of ballet. Hence ballet, in its many aspects, has much to offer individuals and can be seen reflecting to many Western ideals through this art. Most people often find ballet just appealing to the eye and are just seen watching it be performed. Have you ever wondered what influenced ballet and where it came from? Ballet is reflective of Western ideals in many ways whether it is culturally, politically and aesthetically. Not only is ballet used to appeal to the eye and experience release from worldly cares, but also to demonstrate some sort of history and reflect Western ideology.
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”