Dance Difficulties Essay

Elice McKinley is a ballet dancer at the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Mail Online, 2015). During the interview she admitted she was never anorexic but felt she always had the mentality of one, adding that for nearly a decade she ate very little on a daily basis, only ever eating the likes of boiled chicken and fruit. She also revealed how in the ballet world, weight is a topic that is constantly discussed and how they are told to dance all day, every day, and get by on very little sustenance (Mail Online, 2015). This may suggest how little support is received in an institutional environment and the extent of this concern. I believe some blame can be put on schooling for this low self-esteem and some experiencing body image issues due to being in such a closed minded environment for however many years. It is very important that advice is given to dance students, especially as they are in an environment that is based on appearance and have their bodies participate in such a physically demanding schedule. From experience, I am aware how easy it is to get caught up in wanting to look a certain way and to feel obliged to be a certain size. Without personal advice and support, I believe some dance students will be very uneducated when it comes to nutrition having never been in the environment that

“Dying to be Thin,” produced by PBS, is a documentary that examines the troubles that persons who are affected by eating disorders go through and the constant, daily struggles they face with health and body image. The film tells the story of a number of young women who battled mainly anorexia and bulimia and mixes a variety of ages to give a “during” and an “after” perspective. Many of the women in the video were ballet or some similar type of dancer. Dancers, by their own account, are encouraged to be thin. The issue really came to the forefront after a young ballet dancer from Boston died of heart failure at the young age of 22, with an eating disorder deemed to be the cause. The narrator goes on to introduce more young women and detail the potential illnesses that their eating disorders can cause. Chronic low blood pressure, kidney and liver damage, severe early osteoporosis, and heart failure are all common things seem in patients who suffer from eating disorders. Most patients have dangerously low body weights, body fat percentages, and, often, young women will experience amenorrhea, which is the loss of menstruation. All of the people in the video wanted to be better and were seeking a road to recovery. The video showed though, how difficult that can be since the eating disorders can be so wide ranging and have a number of different root causes. Often patients develop eating disorders as something that they have control over, in a world that they feel is out of their

From kindergarten until high school, I was a member of the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance. Up to 5 days per week, I would be at the dance studio taking classes, rehearsing for shows, and helping out in the less advanced classes. Regardless of skill level, Jean never hesitated to speak the brutally honest truth about students’ performances and she never settled for anything less than perfection. Jean would often preach that she is only the instruction manual and she cannot make us good dancers, we had to do that for ourselves. However, it was not her critique or teaching alone that motivated dancers to perform well, it was her relentless work ethic and commitment to her studio. As a 70 year-old women, Jean held classes as much as 7 days per

Eating disorders have become very common today, not only with women but men too (Bordo 2). This fixation with being skinny can be seen most often with modeling. Men and women both are required to be a certain weight if they want to be accepted to a modeling agency. Failure to stay under the weight limit will most likely terminate their contract with that agency. Not only do we see this in modeling or fashion but professional sports. I will never forget watching the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders show a few years ago and watching how big of a deal that the cheerleaders stay within their set weight limit. One of the cheerleaders was five pounds over that limit and was called in for a warning or she would be kicked off the team. Her response, “I guess I’ll have to cut out my favorite snack, PB and J’s.” That moment forever stuck out to me, and made me realize I would never wish to be put under a weight limit for sports, jobs, etc. People often forget starving your body of nutrients is another form of an eating disorder. Bordo claims that, “Eating disorders are also linked to the contradictions of consumer culture, which is continually encouraging us to binge on our desires at the same time as it glamorizes self-discipline and scorns fat as a symbol of laziness and lack of willpower.” (Bordo 2). With the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as just an example, it goes to show also how much of an effect

Ballet “Cry” simply showed to us real life of all African women. Every single American people know what kind of life they went through. Therefore it touched their heard. Alvin Ailey’s “Cry” presented wonderfully combined movements, technique and emotion. Ms. Donna Wood uses tragic face, a mask of sorrow. It is a face born to cry, but when she smiles it is with an innocent radiance, joyfulness that simple and lovely. She never tries consciously to please an audience. He was not only concentrating in movements and physical performance, but also using flowing white gown

What are eating disorders? Are eating disorders a reality for cheerleaders? Is cheerleading a sport that causes females to develop eating disorders? Ron Thompson explains in his book Eating Disorders in Sport that, “Eating disorders are not simply disorders of eating. Also, they are not simply a misguided attempt to be thin; nor are they simply a sport participant’s means to reduce body weight or body fat in an effort to enhance sport performance. They are mental disorders that manifest themselves in a variety of eating and weight-related signs and symptoms” (7-8). I believe that eating disorders are a true and tough reality for cheerleaders especially females. Cheerleading is known as an aesthetic sport, such sport has a higher risk factor to develop eating disorders. Cheerleaders are judged for appearance and wear revealing clothing causing them to

She breaks all the images of American standard of beauty such as being physically pretty. She

Dance is a unique sport because it combines the grit and sweat of sporting events, such as track and field, with the style and extravagance of a fashion show (D.Fowler, 2000).

Dance demands the same physical skills that are required in other sports. Flexibility, strength, and endurance are key characteristics that most dancers need to posses. As with other “athletes,” most dancers are not born with these abilities but must establish them through practice and repetitive training. Similar to traditional sports practices, dance rehearsals are extensive and require diligence, dedication, and patience from the dancers as they will have to repeat exercises and stretches to perfect their technique and stay on

a) Many ask, “How can dance be a sport? You can't judge on time and the scoring is subjective!” Just like figure skaters, competitive dancers are judged on many criteria: technique, posture, timing, line, hold, poise, togetherness, expression, presentation, power, and foot or leg action. Dancers have a lot on their minds while performing. They are constantly asking themselves, am I extending correctly? Is my technique right? Is my head facing the right direction?

With that being said, certain sports put more emphasize on a player’s weight and performance than others. For instance, gymnastics, dancers, wrestlers, divers and long distance runners feature more strain than sports such as basketball, skiing or volleyball. Gymnasts and dancers are highly at risk for developing eating disorders for multiple reasons. The main reason is that their success relies

I had just moved to Washington state and I auditioned for the local dance studio’s competition team for fun. I had no idea how talented they were. And I was just an untrained recreational dancer…Not surprisingly, I didn’t earn a coveted spot on the team it the first time I auditioned. That didn’t stop me from training seriously and auditioning for the team each year until I made it. And here I stand, now starting on my sixth year on the team and as one of the last people from my original team who decided not to quit when they started high school. Dance isn’t just twirling around in pretty pink tutus. What the general population doesn’t picture when they think of dance is the tremendous amount of strenuous work and the blood and sweat and tears that goes into every performance and competition. Certain dancers can’t handle it and quit when they realize they don’t have the passion. My passion keeps me living and breathing and most importantly, dancing, when times get

Numerous studies have shown that athletes are more prone to developing eating disorders than nonathletes, as well as female athletes being more at risk than their male counterparts. Disordered eating is seen in athletes of all sports. (Johnson, 1994). The prevalence of eating disorders in the female athletic population ranges from anywhere between one and forty percent, depending on the athletes questioned, and the methodology used (Sundgot-Borgen, 1994). Rosen and Hough (1988) found that 32 percent of athletes practiced at least one pathogenic weight-control technique(141). A study done by Sundgot-Borgen, in 1994, controlled for the possibility that self-report data could be unreliable in numerous ways, including not informing coaches of their intentions, and assuring 100 percent confidentiality to the athletes who participated. It found that the risk for eating disorders is increased if an athlete's dieting is unsupervised, if there is an early start to sport-specific training, and/or extreme exercise (Sundgot-Borgen, 418).

The dance that I will be focusing on is entitled: thinking sensing standing feeling object of attention. The dance, to me, symbolizes the socialization of persons in Western civilization concerning gender roles. In the beginning there are gestures that are separated from emotion and full-embodiment, but as the dance progresses the gestures become more meaningful and recognizable. The lighting starts out very specific and narrow, then the light encompasses the entire stage, and eventually the dancers are silhouetted as they return to a familiar movement motif in the end. The music is mainly instrumental with occasional soft female vocals, and the lyrics suggest emotion, which is interesting because the dancers do not convey emotion until

The altered eating and exercise patterns of those with eating disorders can seriously damage physical and emotional health. The ANAB (n.d.) contends activities associated with eating disorders place one in medical danger. Strenuous over-exercising is often seen in those with eating disorders even though they may be quite ill. The body of an eating disorder sufferer frequently has electrolyte imbalances and gastrointestinal problems. The