What is body image? Why does it have anything to do with dancing? How can it affect a dancer, even those who aren’t in the professional industry? Body image is the perception that an individual has of their physical self, but more importantly the thoughts and feelings the person experiences as a result of that perception. It is crucial to understand that these thoughts and feelings can be positive, negative or a combination of both and are influenced by individual and environmental factors.
As dancers strive for physical perfection, their body image can become distorted, leading to feelings of worthlessness and triggering unhealthy habits in areas such as diets and eating disorders. Negative body image is a critical issue for dancers as it can have detrimental effects on the individual’s entire well being. It is hypothesized that 35% of ballet dancers have eating disorders in comparison with the 15% of the general population. In a questionnaire of my own I also asked whether or not respondents thought body image has a large influence on dancers. 0. 5% answered “yes” as shown in Figure A.
Figure A: Results from Question 2: Dancing Questionnaire In order to understand why dancers (especially young females who are coming into their professional careers) can have such negative perceptions of themselves, it is important to consider the environment in which they practice and perform in. Mirrors, peers, and the overall aesthetics associated with performance standards have the ability to create a barrier for a positive perception of their body image.
Firstly, dancers use mirrors to correct their movements, both individual and in terms of groups. Picture a group of dancers during rehearsal for a performance. At one end of the studio is a large mirror that takes up nearly the entire wall. This mirror will normally be located so as to approximate where the audience will be seated during a performance. In the mirror dancers see themselves as the audience will see them; thus, for many the mirror serves to show how dancers are viewed by others.
Many dancers tend to feel that the mirror is crucial for their success and serves as an important tool for technique training. Conversely, there are many negative effects of having a mirror in the classroom. Dancers pay too much attention to the image they see of themselves in the mirror, further damaging their self-consciousness and hindering their potential to perform to the best of their ability. Being a substitute dance teacher and frequent student, I am able to observe the body language associated with having an issue with body image, and address these problems accordingly.
Although there may be less of a problem in rural dance schools (such as the one I teach at), it is still common to see a student standing in front of the studio mirror in a leotard with hunched shoulders, looking down at their ballet slippers, seemingly feeling bad about themselves. When using the mirror dancers can be self-conscious and compare themselves to others and ultimately feel bad about their body shape/type. It is not uncommon to see a girl with a “larger” build comparing herself to some of the naturally more petite girls in classes.
This may be the cause of the development of eating disorders, for dancers both at amatuer and elite levels. Overall, the effect of mirrors on dancer’s body image may be dependent on varying factors such as performance skill level, comparing oneself to others, and level of material taught. The relationship between these individual factors is complex and unique for each student. Figure B: Image of a dancer correcting her turnout using a ballet barre and studio mirror.
Secondly, peers and the aesthetics involved with performance standards can also affect a dancer in either a positive or negative way, depending on how confident they are with their bodies. Peers within the dance industry are more often than not, fellow dancers. They have the ability to construct either a positive or negative view of an individual’s body which can either destroy or lift their willingness to learn and perform in front of an often judgemental audience. Degrading comments concerning body shape said by a fellow dancer/teacher can become the defining moment of someone’s dancing “career”.
An example of this can be seen in the popular television show Dance Moms. Abby Lee Miller, who owns the Abby Lee Dance Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is well known for her demanding and passionate approach to teaching aspiring young female dancers. Although Abby Lee’s cast is made up of slim, petite young girls which she mainly criticizes for their “laziness”, “poor technique” and “lack of flexibility”, she holds workshops around the world which any young dancer can attend if they have enough money and are game enough to face her harsh criticism.
My dance teacher took a young dancer of hers to participate in one of these worldwide workshops when the whole of Abby Lee’s dance team came to Australia. She informed me that after the participating dancers had learnt the choreography, they would perform in front of Abby for the chance of earning a place in her “elite squad”. Even before performing for her, she walked past and picked off people for their looks and body type. “Too big”, “too tall”, “too lanky”, “too stumpy”, “legs aren’t long enough” she would say.
Her degrading comments even left some of the young girls in tears as they walked off the dance floor without a chance to perform. Through this observation from my dance teacher it was clear to see that Abby had broken some of their dreams through these small-minded comments of her own idealised perception of a perfect dancers body. The aesthetics involved with performance are based on the views of others and the views of dancers themselves. In order to consider a performance “beautiful”, there is usually a standard which an audience/adjudicator already has in mind.
This includes the body shape of dancers, especially that of females. Choreographers and artistic directors will continually focus on the beauty, athleticism and aesthetics of female dancers. This aesthetic has further been acculturated as the norm by many choreographers and teachers. It is not often you see a “larger” girl performing ballet at an elite level, and there is certainly never any large male dancers. They must be fit, strong, lean and thin. This also goes for auditions.
Unless there is a criteria for someone bigger in their dance casting, they will not be chosen, placing pressure for dancers in the professional industry to look thinner and more petite which may ultimately damage both their physical and mental state. To further demonstrate this statement, I asked a question which would help identify whether or not people believed pressure was being put on dancers to look a certain way, especially in the professional industry. 98. 3% of respondents answered “yes”, as shown by Figure C. Figure C: Results from Question 3: Dancing Questionnaire
As an outcome of this mental and physical stress placed on a dancer to become the epitome of “perfection”, the use and abuse of acute diets used to slim the body can develop into extreme cases of eating disorders. The most prevalent in the dance industry however, is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and anorexia athletica. For reasons of clarity, the following definitions are provided. Anorexia Nervosa: Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disorder characterized by an unrealistic fear of weight gain, selfstarvation, and conspicuous distortion of body image.
Bulimia Nervosa: Bulimia Nervosa is a serious psychiatric illness characterised by recurrent binge-eating episodes followed by or over exercising. Anorexia Athletica: Anorexia athletica is defined by the need to meet unrealistic ideals of physical performance through strenuous exercise and dieting. Figure D: Represents the perception of their bodies that those with anorexia and bulimia may experience. I also asked a question of whether or not individuals believed that dancers could be affected by eating disorders.
7. 4%of respondents agreed with this statement, as shown by Figure E. Figure E: Results from Question 4: Dancing Questionnaire These results highlight the negative perceptions that many people associate with dancers, especially those in the professional industry. Whether this is based on personal experience or influenced by external forces such as social media, television series and movies; body image and the eating disorders which may come from it are a problem area for those involved with the dancing industry