The word perfect or ideal is dangerous in the ballet world. We live in a world governed by social media where we are bombarded by the top percentile of successful artists who parade their success and physiques for the world to marvel at, and rightly so. Ballet breeds a level of athlete that combines movement with aesthetic and for every dancer we will constantly be plagued by a desire to achieve what we view as “perfection”. It’s a viable goal to aim towards but I feel a lot of younger dancers are caught up in trying to be someone else and have a body like someone else rather than be the best version of themselves they can be.
It’s a difficult road to traverse, becoming a professional ballet dancer. We have our teachers requesting we contort our bodies into unnatural positions to meet a requirement which may not fit every individual’s body shape. It is drilled into us from our early years of training and further reinforced when we approach the professional level, that if we cannot stand in a flat first or fifth position that we aren’t good enough and that we will be surpassed by someone who can.
This mindset is destructive and it is upsetting to see young dancers with radiating potential plagued with injuries due to forcing their bodies into shapes that they aren’t ready to perform or that their bones simply won’t allow. The injuries can be fatal to the point of leading dancers to feeling like they’re inadequate, less of an artist and worst of all, giving up their dreams and quitting all together.
In saying all that, it is a challenge to determine each dancer’s aptitude to work their bodies to the maximum degree they’re capable of. This isn’t something someone else can dictate to you, it is something you have to figure out on your own, over years of work in the studio. I myself have completely failed mobility tests having subpar mobility in all the areas deemed “required” to do classical ballet but that has never stopped me. Over the years, through careful stretching and lengthening, I have increased flexibility in not only superficial areas like the splits but also my ankle, knee and hip mobility. I by no means have the perfect ballet body, if anything I am on the complete opposite end of the scale but it was important for me to not let that rule my mindset. The mental shift in how I viewed my body aided in securing a job, furthering my growth physically, weathering my spirit and allowing me to become the artist I am today.
It is admirable to constantly be chasing the level of aesthetic perfection that ballet asks for but it is unhealthy to get yourself caught up in feelings of inadequacy over physical traits you cannot alter. Ballet dancers in the 21st century come in all shapes and sizes so as long as you are working to become the strongest, most confident and happy version of yourself that you can be, you are doing enough. There is and always will be more to being a successful artist than the shape of your legs or how skinny you are, so keep striving to be best the best artist you can be.
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