Kacey Groves

Professor Marcus Hayes

Intro to Dance

11/22/2018

Body Dysmorphia a Crisis Amongst Ballerinas

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines body dysmorphia as a disorder in which the patient

suffers a “pathological preoccupation with an imagined or slight physical defect of one's body to

the point of causing significant stress or behavioral impairment in several areas” meaning the

person is looking at his or her body in dissatisfaction with its size and shape. Sadly this intense

dissatisfaction and intense pressure from the dancing community usually forces dancers to turn

to drastic measures to achieve the ideal body type. Ballet dancers force themselves to dance on

little to no food for hours every day just to achieve the ideal look, and in turn, causing serious

and sometimes irreversible damages to there otherwise incredibly healthy and limber bodies.

Ballerinas have begun coming out of the woodwork telling media the heartwrenching stories of

body dysmorphia and the lasting effects it has on bodies.

A former principal dancer for the New York City Ballet Kathryn Morgan told Huffington

Post about the pressures she received about her body weight. Kathryn was struggling with a

serious thyroid condition during the peak of her career and when her body began to change due

to the condition her ballet masters would constantly comment on her size. When asked if her

ballet masters were more concerned about her appearance or her health she gave the shocking

response “To be honest, it was just a concern for my appearance. Ballet is an aesthetic art and

you have to look a certain way. If you don’t meet the standards, they can’t put you out on the

stage.” While suffering from a potentially life-threatening illness the focus of the ballet master
was placed on Kathryn Morgan’s body shape, instead of her condition. Despite suffering from

the daily pressures of dance and the physical and emotional toll of her body issues Kathryn

continued to dance until she broke down physically and emotionally. She says “I broke down

because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was not getting better — it was getting worse with all of

the pressure they were placing on me and the pressure I was placing on myself.” With the

emotional pressures, she faced due to her illness and changing body Kathryn was forced to leave

her company and go home to recover.

In addition to Kathryn’s story, the Chicago Tribune wrote a story on Anias Garcia and

her struggles with body dysmorphia after leaving a ballet school. The author describes her as a

“ballerina who contended with anorexia nervosa for years, Garcia, who is just over five feet tall,

has reached 105 pounds, a safer weight than the 79 pounds of a year ago. In her gray turtleneck

sweater and casual black leggings, her extreme thinness remains apparent. "For the past five

years, I've done nothing but hate and try to disown my body," she says. Throughout her dancing

career Garcias, constantly attempted to achieve the slimmer idealistic ballet look forcing her

body to extremes. She describes her struggles as “a dangerous spiral of wanting to please my

teachers”. She pushed her self to the point where "My body was so thin and weak...I just wanted

to die. I was so weak, I couldn't move. I was ready to peacefully go." After that point, she was

rushed to a hospital and diagnosed with a slew of mental health disorders revolving around her

body dysmorphia.

These dancers are not alone. Linda Hamelton a clinical psychologist told the Chicago

Tribune "One out of two dancers suffer from an eating disorder [and] It's still an ongoing

problem and it needs to be addressed, because once ballerinas develop an eating disorder, it's

hard to recover." She stated that at the moment, the small size and stature expectations are “the
ballet culture”. Ballerinas are expected to be small, thin, and graceful long limbs and necks are

desired and due to this, she reports that "the disorders start early, as young as 12" due to changes

in the body because of puberty. When puberty hits young girls their hips and breast begin to

grow and make their bodies curvier, these curvier body types are not desired in the ballet world.

An additional study by Nascimento AL, Luna JV, Fontenelle LF published in the journal Annals

of Clinical Psychiatry found that “The lifetime prevalence of BDD and ED among elite

professional female ballet dancers was higher than the general population. High standards of

beauty, public body exposure, and repeated exposure to mirrors in the rehearsal rooms may

contribute to the development of body image disorders”. The high pressures of the competitive

dance world have shown negative effects on the young minds of dancers across the world. These

highly competitive environments young girls are forced into sadly pressured them to in turn from

negative thoughts about their body. The young dancers find that they are not thin enough to

appeal to their educators and leaders and will often forcer their bodies to the extremes in order to

please them. Ballerinas starve and overexert themselves just to be cast into the leading roles of

their school or company and their unhealthy bodies are the bodies young dancers look at when

decided what peak performance should look like, thus creating a vicious cycle of body

dysmorphia around both young and seasoned ballet dancers.

Researchers Meczekalski B, Podfigurna-Stopa A, Katulski K published a study in The

European Menopause Journal on the long-term effects of Anorexia (a common form of body

dysmorphia). The researchers concluded that the long-term effects of the disorder include long-

term hormone disruptions that can lead to difficult pregnancies and potential birth defects in

children, anemia, cardiac issues including arrhythmia and hypotension and bone density issues.

If you couple these extreme risks with the fast pasted and exertive work of the ballet world it is a
recipe for a medical disaster. This disorder not only is not only a crisis for ballerina bodies but

minds as well. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders

and Mental Health America, Body Dysmorphia Disorder is often coupled with, depression,

anxiety, and OCD.

In light of media attention to the body issues of ballerinas in recent years ballet

companies and school have taken precautions to help ballerinas avoid the physical and mental

health issues that lead to and stem from body dysmorphia psychologist are urging a change in the

ballet community. In the Chicago Tribune Phycologist Linda Hammelton states “To address

eating disorders in ballet, the whole environment has to support that, including teachers and

choreographers at ballet schools. They have to educate dancers, to prevent them from developing

dysfunctional eating habits or relapsing after treatment.” In Dance Teacher Deborah Wingheart a

dance teacher and former body dysmorphia suffer presses the ideas of a healthy body onto her

students. She encourages them to see psychiatrists, concealers, nutritionist, and dietitians if the

feel like they are not at the weight they should be. She encourages her dancers to look out for one

another and most importantly, she encourages instructors to monitor their students and ask

questions. While she says its an uphill battle supporting body positivity in the ballet world is

essential to the mental and physical health of its dancers. While instructors and doctors are

making progress with the battle against body dysmorphia in ballerinas, there is still so much

change that needs to happen for the dancing world to become healthy. Until that point in time

body dysmorphia in ballerinas will remain a crisis.

 Refrences

Bjornsson, Andri S et al. “Body dysmorphic disorder” Dialogues in clinical neuroscience vol.

12,2 (2010): 221-32.

Adams, Rebecca. “What It's Like To Gain 40 Pounds As A Professional Ballerina.” The

Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017,

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/01/kathryn-morgan-ballet-dancer_n_5850642.html
Amarks. “Stop Eating Disorders Before They Start.” Dance Teacher, Dance Teacher, 16 May

2017, www.dance-teacher.com/health-stop-eating-disorders-start-2392821158.html.

“Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).” Mental Health America, 11 Aug. 2016,

www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/body-dysmorphic-disorder-bdd#5.

“American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

(DSM-IV).” SpringerReference, doi:10.1007/springerreference_179660.

“Body Dysmorphic Disorder Medical Definition.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,

www.merriam-webster.com/medical/body dysmorphia.

Meczekalski, Blazej. “Long-Term Consequences of Anorexia Nervosa.” Maturitas, vol. 81, no.

1, 2015Rolz, Isabella. “A Ballet of 'Living Hell': Ex-Dancer Recounts Her Battle with

Anorexia.” Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 12 Nov. 2018,

www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-hlth-ballerina-anorexia-1112-story.html.

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