The Two Biggest Elephants in the Room

Anorexia and Bulimia have now become extremely commonplace among dancers. The demand for perfection often turns into an obsession and drastic measures are taken to obtain and then maintain a "dancer's" body shape. These two mental health issues affect both the mind and body.

Every dancer has a "stage personality" and unique movement vocabulary that is solely their own. When they drift into a state of depression or insecurity, that charisma disappears. This is especially evident in teenagers. That is why I believe the best way to fight against this is to make sure that teachers and parents are all creating a place of encouragement and growth for today's emerging dancers. This can be achieved by dealing with the two biggest elephants in the room.

Knowledge of the repercussions of these two issues, will prevent dancers from taking this route. Instead things like nutrition information, counseling, and training plans should be reinforced. If things are discussed at an early age and dancers understand where to turn when problems occur, eating disorders can be prevented.

It is vital that the environment a dancer develops in promotes the evolvement of her/his craft. If that environment is compromised by abuse and insults eating disorders are more than likely to develop. First there needs to be an understanding of what the disease looks like and the reasons it develops, and then treatments can be placed into effect to battle these two issues.

Steps to Improve

It is sad and destructive to know that this is how most dancers views themselves:
This is a result of the constant pressure to improve one’s self image, which makes dancers go to drastic means to change their bodies to match those found in the media. Their job is to sell themselves, so they are being scrutinized by the people closest to them. No matter how great your craft is, there is always something about your image that needs improving. “I recently started auditioning for different agencies in L.A. and found out that putting yourself out there is a definite ego blow. I was told I was not fit enough, not exotic enough, too tall, too commercial, too anything and everything,” stated Brittany DeGroff.

There is a connection between how dancers’ perceive their bodies and craft and the constant criticism that is all around them. Choreographers, fellow dancers, and especially teachers should remain uplifting and supportive. It is not about how the dancer can improve their image, but instead how they can strengthen themselves and their dancing. So encourage instead of disparage.


Allowing for the fact that this article deals in particular with strippers, it still holds weight in helping you to understand the lengths taken to force dancer's to improve their bodies. The Movable Buffet

Gaining Back a Reason to Dance

Self-expression has always been a challenge for me. It was not until I figured out that I could use dance as a means of escape, that I finally had a sense of clarity. Dance became an outlet to relieve my stress and problems and funnel my creativity. I threw myself full force into it and it shaped and helped me to define myself.

There was never a doubt in my mind that I would continue with dance until I came to Chapman University my freshman year, in which my little dance bubble burst apart. It was then that I would not always be cast or be successful at an audition. It was the first casting when I learned that being a good dancer didn't mean I would have an automatic position and forces beyond my control were attributing. In essence it was "type-casted" and I wasn't part of that "type."

It was devastating to find out it is no longer about the beauty of dance, but instead the focus has been positioned on the dancer himself/herself. Not only must a dancer possess the necessary technique and style required to survive in the dance community, but also have a unique sell-ability. This has put an added pressure on dancers inside the professional realm, as well as students beginning to emulate teachers, advanced students, and choreographers.

So, how do we get back to the institution of dance and its foundation? We need to give the image of dance a face-lift. It has become a tired, industrialized art form that is devoid of all natural luster. The only way to achieve this would be to reconstruct how the community perceives the image of the dancer. It should be about real people and the joy for dance that they share. We need to move past body types, exoticism, and certain criteria to see the athleticism produced by every individual involved in dance.

In this blog I plan to contradict misconceptions of body image, bring health issues associated with dancers and dieting to the forefront, and invoke changes in how dancers recieve training from choreographers, companies and studios alike. This blog is designed to help dancers get what they want and need from dance. It is time to bring back the love and elation towards dance that has been drowned by the growing pressures to look and perform a certain way.