IS BALLET SAFE? IS BALLET HARMFUL?
This post is inspired by conflicting thoughts on these questions I have encountered over the last week or two and a desire to share my own.
My take is that there is nothing inherently harmful about ballet technique. It is the context in which dancing takes place, as well as individual differences that determine safety vs. harm. I want to address physical health as well as mental/emotional well-being.
Over the past year or so I have been hanging out in the adult ballet space. Here are dancers who are either starting ballet as adults or returning after relatively long breaks. I happen to belong to both of those groups. For the sake of this discussion, I am not including adults who started dancing as children and followed the path into professional companies.
In this adult space there is a focus on being welcoming to all who choose to come. There are now several studios and workshops dedicated to adult students where technique is taught in a way that respects adult bodies. Adults generally also have a greater ability to understand and apply what they are being taught, decreasing the likelihood of injury. One caveat for adults is being overly enthusiastic and over training.
On the side of “ballet is safe” is a conversation I am following on an Instagram account @adultballetclub. It mentions the importance of the teacher understanding anatomy and having that knowledge inform their teachings. Some teacher trainings include that knowledge. There are other ways to gain that.
Now for the not so good news. I met someone last week who happened to mention that his wife is a former professional ballet dancer and has needed four knee surgeries. She would never want her young child to study ballet. Having worked with injured dancers from the young teens through professionals, I understand this.
Many little girls dream of being ballerinas. If that has even the smallest chance of being possible in the sense of joining a company and earning a living as a dancer, by the early teens they are typically being pushed really hard. They may be forced into a look that is not suitable for them. This could be a very common technique issue like forcing turn out or that their body shape in not appropriate. In the worst-case scenarios, there is shaming around this. Physical injuries and mental health issues, often related, emerge.
Of course, there are exceptions to this and hopefully more and more of them. Still, it is situations like these that support the idea that ballet can be harmful.
For those fortunate enough to land in a professional salaried company pressures often continue. I have seen several YouTube feeds by professionals who quit sooner than might be expected for reasons of physical and/or emotional health.
Yes, there evidence that the professional ballet world may be changing. And there is also a recent video by Kathryn Morgan formerly of New York City ballet, Miami City Ballet and a freelancer. Over many years she has shared her challenges with physical and mental health. Recently she shared that she is entering into retirement from the stage. She mentions that how a ballerina is supposed to look has not changed.
So, if you are an adult wanting to start or resume ballet, I encourage that. There are many benefits both physical and mental. If you are the parent of a young dancer, I highly recommend that you stay aware of what is going on in their training and act in their best interest.
Earlier on I mentioned individual differences. These are critically important to the conversation around the relative safety of ballet. First, certain bodies are just physically more genetically suitable.
An excellent specific example is that there is variability in the human hip structure, and those with one that favors turnout will be at a natural advantage. There are other genetic advantages that favor success in high level ballet like having longer legs. Especially helpful is a natural tendency to be thin. For those who have won the genetic lottery, ballet is less likely to create physical and mental health issues.
Second is an individual’s own thoughts and feelings as whether their passion for the art form overrides any inherent stresses. Are they able to stay relatively healthy physically and emotionally despite these?
I have spent decades studying anatomy and movement mechanics and have taught anatomy and kinesiology for dancers in a college setting. If you are interested in how I am currently sharing this knowledge you can learn more by clicking on the Dancers’ Corner on the top bar of this site.
p.s. As cute as that little girl is in the photo, she, like many other little ballerina wannabes, is forcing her turnout.