It's certainly not just Russian companies that strive for the ever-thinner ballerinas. American companies— no matter how small— want the thin ones. I have a friend (She's on the right of the photo here) who is leaving the ballet in spite of being 5'9" and some ungodly low weight because it has been made very clear to her that she is too heavy for ballet. Maybe she hasn't been abused to the point of eating disorder, but she has been all but told that she will never get a position with a company because (goodness!) she's got hips.

She might weigh, at a guess, fifty pounds less than my normal weight... we're about the same height, and most people think of me as thin.

It infuriates me. At least she's still young enough that she's going to figure out something else to do with her life. But when a perfectly talented young lady who is on the thin end of the scale is deemed impossibly heavy for ballet... what do they want? Skeletons?

Posted by: B. Durbin on May 8, 2008 9:39 PM

Ballet companies are going to prefer thin ballerinas for the same reason football teams prefer behemoth offensive linemen: extreme body types produce enhanced performance. In both cases immediate glory is chosen despite the likelihood of physical suffering coming down the road.

The skinny model trend is much more bizarre. Since when is the bony clavicle the new erogenous zone?

Posted by: CyndiF on May 9, 2008 10:49 AM






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