“mass media is one of the principal factors behind body dissatisfaction, concerns about weight, and disordered eating behavior”( Levine, Murnen 2009). The media acts as an influential force where society’s views of body image and health are used to brainwash the minds of its consumers. The constant pressure exuded by the media affects many individuals in society. Whether it is an ad on a passing bus, or a commercial broadcasted into family homes, the media finds its way to penetrate and convey certain perceptions of body and health. Women are predominantly affected by this narrow view. Particularly looking at female ballet dancers, the media portrays a one-sided view of the ballet physique, broadcasting a restricted ideology to the community. Similar to many art forms, ballet is highly scrutinized, and is full of cultural and historical ideas. Media plays a huge part in the perception of these idealistic views of the of the ballet image. A specific example of this is the Hollywood film “Black Swan”, where a ballerina is portrayed as having an eating disorder. Ultimately, through “Black Swan”, various magazine articles, and recent studies on the issue, media’s limited and restricted beliefs about body image in ballet are able to resonate through to the general public. Ballet dancers have always been expected to resemble a certain body type. They are known to be “very thin with small breasts and narrow hips; their legs are long and lean; their arms are long and slender; their torsos are short with a flat stomach and abdomen; their heads are small atop a long, slender neck.”(Ritenburg 75) George Balanchine, a famous artistic director and choreographer for the New York City Ballet, first desired this physique for the modern balle... ... middle of paper ... ...2. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. Macaulay, Alastair. "Timeless Alchemy, Even When No One Is Dancing." The New York Times 29 Nov. 2010, C1 sec. New York Times, 28 Nov. 2010. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. Oliver, W. 2005. "Reading the ballerina’s body: Susan Bordo sheds light on Anastasia Volochkova and Heidi Guenther." Dance Research Journal, 37, no. 2: 38–54. Ribeiro, L. G., and G. V. da Veiga. "Risk Behaviors for Eating Disorders in Brazilian Dancers." International Journal of Sports Medicine 31.4 (2010): 283-288. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. Ritenburg, Heather Margaret. "Frozen landscapes: a Foucauldian genealogy of the ideal ballet dancer's body." Research in Dance Education 11.1 (2010): 71-85. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. WordWeb Dictionary. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. .
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
Jensen, Jill Nunes. "Transcending Gender in Ballet’s LINES." When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders (2009): 118.
Young girls and women symbolize femininity with being a ballerina. Kelso comments that in the shadows of the spotlight lurks an abusive world of eating disorders, verbal harassment, fierce competition, injuries, fatigued, and malnourished dancers (Kelso, 2003). In today’s world of ballet, dancers suffer from always being in pain, worrying their body image is not the right look they need to have to get lead roles resulting in the development of eating disorders, and male ballet dancers are stereotyped as being homosexual when most of the male dancers are in fact heterosexual.
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.
The stage that hosted the creation of illusion for those attending ballet after 1827 in its “golden age” (Guest, 1) introduced a new world, but one that could not be reached. These illusions were expressed through performance as “moods of Romanticism.” (5) The Romantic period of the early 19th century emphasized the alienation of an individual, the spectacle of that isolation, and the Romantic ideal that perfection remains mysterious and unattainable, as opposed to the late 18th century’s Enlightenment ideals that held rationality and tangible beings most profound. The spectacle of an estranged, supernatural being embodies these elements of Romanticism, as was represented in Romantic ballet. Coralli and Perrot’s 1841 ballet, Giselle, incorporated these Romantic elements into “each one of (the ballet’s) component parts - scenic design…choreography and dance style” (7), as well as with innovations in narrative. These narratives began to project women as powerful representations of the ethereal, supernatural being, as is specifically shown in the character of Giselle in Coralli and Perrot’s ballet. Through the novelties of Romantic visual presentation in scenery, movement, and narrative, the golden age of ballet was able to effectively “(reveal) the unattainable” (7) and supernatural.
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”.
Body image is a hot topic in the media. Unrealistic and unattainable are words that can be used to describe images in the media. Skinny, waif-like women and muscular, Rambo-like men are the idolized body images portrayed. In the media female models keep getting thinner and thinner while men keep getting more muscular. Many say the media and its depictions of the ideal body weight created the problems of low self-esteem, eating disorders, poor body concepts, and sexism through spotlighting unattainable body image icons.
The Classical Period which happened in the late 1700’s became one the most evolutionary times in ballets history. The Classical Period is where performance and expression became extremely important. With ballet this period is where the use of storytelling became one of the main focuses for the dancer’s performances. The use of their emotions and the character they portrayed were more important than the use of the costumes. The “father of classical ballet” was known as Marius Petipa. Petipa was born in French but he came to Russia to create in the ballet. In the early 1800’s came the Pre-Romantic Period which was short but needed because of Marie Taglioni. Marie Taglioni was the first ballerina to ever dance en pointe. This time was the time pointe surfaced, em pointe which means “on
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).
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
Every dance that is created by a choreographer has a meaning and or purpose behind it. The dance choreographed could be used to send a political, emotional, or a social message. Regardless of the message being sent, each dance created possesses a unique cultural and human significance. This essay will examine and analyze two dance works from history and give an insight into what each dance work provided to the society of its time.
The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
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).
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
Everyone care about beauty and media comes in the way to for its interest by using body image as a tool which only exists in people’s mind. It is unbelievable that how media is blamed for its actions. In the article, “How the Media Keeps Us Hung Up on Body Image” by Shari Graydon, the author claims that women are suffering from unhealthy and harmful disorders due to media influence. As strength, Graydon raises the attention of the readers by giving information on how media is affecting women through the usage of celebrities, professionals and researches’ data. However, Graydon’s argument unpersuasive because the author uses radical evidences to manipulate the readers, also blames only to the media regardless of other factors and the solutions to protect the people against the media are ineffective.