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Christina Gallegos

Instructor McCann

English 1301.127

1 December 2021

Dance Through Twitter’s Eye’s

Itzhak Perlman, an American musician, once stated that for every child prodigy you

know, at least 50 potential ones have burned out before you have even heard of them. The social

media platform Twitter reflects on the brutal side of the dance community and how parents

overwork and confront numerous issues for their children. Through Twitter, Dance Prodigies

promote healthy discussions on controversial topics to individuals who are a part of competitive

dance; they inform parents about the effects this can have on their children, and provide

informational resources for help, and most importantly, a safe space for dancers to vent.

Nowadays, the dance world is brimming with prodigies, with social media fueling the

desire for dancers. This particular Twitter network is a constant source of information for parents

who are dealing with this issue. The main argument they make is that youngsters are trying to

enjoy their childhood. You must give up everything, including your childhood. Dance requires

sacrifices such as sacrificing free time, extra curricular activities, and more importantly their

childhood. One parent commented, "My daughter spends too much time in the studio and not

enough time outside and just doing kid activities." Dancers are known for never seeing the light

of day but mirrors and floors full of other dancers. Dancers work so hard because they believe

they must be faultless since society has distorted the idea of a dancer. They try to seem perfect

for the media, but the media begins to criticize them for everything they do for a variety of

reasons. They claim that dancers have to be thin and delicate, and this interferes with dancers'
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self-esteem. This incident was addressed and how members of the Dance Prodigies community

felt. Twitter user, @Pheboe_dancer275, refers to her insecurity and how much of it is due to the

dance community. However, she utilizes all of that rage and hate to be her best version,

regardless of what anybody may say about it. Many of her comments agree and state that dance

needs to feel fun again. It needs to be about growth and self-love not competition.

In addition, this type of art/sport is famous for overworking dancers, physically, mentally,

and emotionally. It is important when participating in an intensive dance training, that dancers

ensure that they do not push their body’s to its breaking point, and they need to be aware of the

following early warning signals and pay attention to them. An anonymous Twitter user expressed

their viewpoint and personal miserable experiences with burnout. They say everybody

experiences at least 10 burnouts in the dance industry each season. Burnout is a true affair with

which many dancers are concerned and take very seriously. The condition of burning may be

characterized as persistent / inexplicable tiredness, poor performance with regular dancing

exercises, bad mood, and increased disease and/or injury (“Depression: What Is Burnout?”).

Often, as a consequence of a lack of resting time, burnout occurs in a myriad of professional and

non-professional dancers.

Obviously, burnout is mostly physical, yet we also have emotional burnout. This is

potentially way worse, because it can cause many forms of depression. Luckily the Dance

Prodigies community supplies their followers with great resources. For example, they give

numerous connections for therapists and meditation. This community also talks about the need

for normalizing dancers being tried and taking time off for their mental health. Social media

especially has this image that dancers don't need a break because they are just dancing, yet that

takes the most toll on the body. A big example that this community uses is the recent Olympics,
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gymnast Simone Biles had to step out of the competition due to her mental health getting to her.

She has all this pressure on her back and she was not able to talk about this taboo to her coach,

because social media has burned it into our brains that we can't complain. Doing this makes us

athletes seem weak. Once she realized that the competition was becoming worse and needed to

leave, the whole of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Fans were outraged. By leaving the

tournament, they thought she abandoned her country. Yet they are by her side in the Twitter

community and insist that a medal won't solve all her problems. In order to do so she needed to

take a break and get the correct treatment she deserved. This only demonstrates how additional

supporters are connected and supported by the community.

Twitter not only talks about very controversial topics and gives a safe space for dancers

or really any other athlete that feels the same, they also apply resources for anyone who's in need

of help. One of their latest posts they talk about, a good spa. As much as that seems like really a

spa, but dancers that use their muscles everyday for 5-8 hours need to take a break and relax for a

while. They see this as a reminder that we are humans, and need to be well rested in order for our

bodies to properly function. Another example is anyone who needs mental assistance, Twitter

offers the proper aid to those who need it most. Twitter offers connections to various physicians

and trainers around the world. Again this shows that even physicians and trainers are a part of

this community and truly care about dancers.

In conclusion this twitter account is very informative for dancers all over the word, who

are in need of any kind of help. They have helped so many people with the information given out

or even just as simple as letting a dancer vent in the comment section after they've had a long day

at practice. Everyday this community puts people at ease every time they get a notification
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saying that they tweeted something. It is such a small account that was very hard to find but it

still makes a big impact on some people.

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Works Cited

“Twitter. It’s What’s Happening.” Twitter.com, 2019, twitter.com.