Diet culture in dance has lessened, and professionals and dancers alike are breaking that stigma around disordered eating that’s been heavily present throughout the history of dance.
Diet culture, a set of cultural myths and practices around food and weight, is very present in the dance world. In ballet especially, teenagers can be pressured by diet culture to look a certain way in hopes that they will perform better.
“You’re naturally comparing yourself to other dancers, not only dancing-wise but also body shape. It’s not an uncommon thing to be like, oh, why don’t I look like her? Is that why I’m not as good?” said Sarah Brown, a dance major at San Diego State University.
In comparison to non-dancers, dancers are three times more likely to have disordered eating. The Balanchine body–thin physique, long legs, a short torso, and no curves–is heavily desired in ballet and puts an unrealistic stress on dancers’ physique.
“Diet culture to look a certain way is very prevalent in society, but on dancers, it becomes even worse as they look for the way to keep their body in ‘perfect shape,'” said Dawn Smith-Theodore, a licensed therapist for dancers with eating disorders.
The short and long-term effects of disordered eating can completely derail dancers’ careers and negatively impact their mental health.
According to Smith-Theodore, short-term effects include stress fractures, bone health issues, and a constant mental war about food and weight in a dancer’s head. One of the biggest short-term struggles of disordered eating is a shift in mindset regarding food and nutrition. Dancers’ mental health also suffers.
“They may experience depression, anxiety, and an inability to concentrate,” said Amy Kathleen Lee, founder of Dancing with ED and survivor of bulimia.
Many dancers who suffer from disordered eating, especially anorexia nervosa, which is severe underrating, become obsessed with their food intake. Dancers start to form bad eating habits, such as starving themselves, purging, or binge eating.
“It can be very isolating as fear about weight gain sets in and takes over a dancer’s life,” Smith-Theodore said.
According to both Smith-Theodore and Lee, long-term effects include bone health diseases, such as osteoporosis and osteopenia, lowered mental health, and the inability to have children. All of these effects can possibly end a dancer’s career and even their life.
“The longer dancers go without help, the more risk they are of death,” Lee said.
The mental health aspect of disordered eating is where many dancers struggle the most.
“It wasn’t my weight that was the problem. The food, weight, and body image struggles were the symptoms,” Lee said regarding her experience with disordered eating.
In recent years, ballet has become less exclusive to certain body types. Additionally, more and more information about proper nutrition, eating disorders, and body image is becoming available.
With professionals like Smith-Theodore and Lee working to stop the negative impacts of diet culture in ballet, there’s hope for a future in dance where diet culture doesn’t play such a big role.
