Ballet Bodies

I paid a visit to a ballet school the other day.

SIGH.

I love ballet. I mean, really love it. I love the music, I love the movement. I love everything about it.

I took ballet for six years, and though I had the coordination and the musicality, I didn't have any of the natural advantages a ballet student should have. I was more athletic than elegant, I was round where I should have been long and lean. And then of course, there's the flat feet.

According to eHow:

If you want a ballerina's body, the facts can be discouraging. A professional ballerina must be between 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-8, slender and limber, have a perfect limb-to-torso ratio, a long neck, a small head and perfectly arched feet with good point.

So, I really just wasn't cut out for it.

I totally understand though the current fascination with ballet-style workouts. I mean, who doesn't want a body that looks like this--

Ashley Bouder of the New York City Ballet

and can do this:

Ashley Bouder again, in Four Seasons

I've got two ballet workouts on tap that I haven't yet tried, but stay tuned for reviews. I hope I get around to trying them, sooner rather than later. (For those who are curious and want to know what exactly these videos are, they are the workouts by Jessica Sherwood, Ballet Boot Camp 1 and 2.)
Barre-style workouts, like Pure Barre, Lotte Berk, and the Core Fusions, are also workouts that I would classify under "ballet-style" or ballet-inspired. Interestingly enough, I have very little patience with barre-style workouts, so I wonder if a more ballet-influenced program, such as Jessica Sherwood's, will fit the bill. I'll let you know.

I love ballet, and I am in awe of those who have pursued their dream of becoming professional dancers. It's a hard life. And the demands of the art and of the audience are almost too much to bear.

As an example, late last year, a review of the New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker raised a furor. Alastair Macaulay said Jenifer Ringer, who played the iconic role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she had eaten "one sugarplum too many."


This is what Mr. Macaulay was referring to:

Jenifer Ringer as The Sugar Plum Fairy

She doesn't seem all that fat to me.

I admire dancers who look strong, who have beautiful expression, who are graceful, elegant, and yes, athletic. I look for spark and fire, for softness and delicacy. I love dancers with great musicality and of course, beautiful, clean technique. And I love the dancers who make it all look so easy.

But...it's a hard life. And dancers make a lot of sacrifices, not just to keep their bodies--their instruments--in shape, but, I imagine, a lot of personal sacrifice too, in order to be able to dance and perform the way they must.

In the documentary, Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, an incredibly beautiful dancer makes this this painful comment:

You are always working before a mirror, always examining what faults to work on. I don't know if a dancer can say "I like myself physically." It's impossible.

Many of us are fortunate that we can do these ballet-type workouts in the privacy of our own home, without a dance teacher barking commands at us. Having had that experience though, I can honestly say I have no regrets. And while I wish that I too could wear a tutu and dance on stage, I'm glad that I don't have to live with the pressure of being perfect.