Has it moved on?
Some may suggest dance has moved on and believe the size issue has been confronted. Accoring to Lucinda Sharp, a resident psychologist at the Austrailian Ballet School in Melbourne, the days when dancers lived on very little substance are over. She stressed the importance of having a strong relationship with students and always considering their health and welfare when in that type of environment. Sharp spoke openly in an Arts interview about how staff at the school promote student engagement and encourage students to place more value on who they are rather than what they do (H Jennings, 2012).
Luke Jennings, a ballet dancer, posted an article in ‘The Observer’ revealing how when he was a student in the 1970s, thinness was everything. With no nutritional advice or…show more content… While dancers were expected to be more trim than the norm, it wasn’t considered anything special. These were women whose bodies had been shaped by years of intense training, and were involved in far more physically demanding activities than their peers (Mackrell, 2014). For a dancer, thin is ‘15% below your ideal weight for height, which is basically an anorexic weight’ (McPhee 2000). The idea of being thin is portrayed all over the media as an inspiration therefore from this lack of understanding of health and wellbeing, I believe dancers have a different idea of ‘thin’ than an average person. Although Mcphee stated this just over a decade ago, some suggest there has been a development in the acceptance of dancers being of a much healthier weight. Royal Ballet director Kevin O'Hare has promised professional psychological support for his dancers, as well as expert physical therapy. Tamara Rojo at the English National Ballet, meanwhile, announced shortly after she became director that she was determined to emphasize the importance of a healthy body image among her dancers and to root out any remaining instances of disordered eating (Mackrell,2014). On the
