Pressures of the Industry

I have been thinking a lot about my Inquiry and i came across this article (link below) and i feel that it is such a great source which i will be able to use in my Inquiry. I seem to be coming back to the topic about pressures in the industry.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/8554651/The-truth-about-life-as-a-background-dancer.html

In my previous blog post i have written a lot of questions and i feel this article explores a lot of these relating to Pressures of the Industry, Auditions and Agents.

Below is two extracts from the above article, this focuses on eating disorders and pressures to look your best.

"All that bare flesh, all those mirrors, all that concentrated thinking about your arms, your legs, your “look”, it can push people towards anorexia or bulimia. You see it mostly at college. “When they’re impressionable,” nods Karl. “And there’s so much pressure. You’re staring at yourself all day in tights and a leotard.” The teachers don’t help. Karl’s colleague Rachel Ensor remembers “the class before a Christmas break and the teacher said, ‘Make sure you don’t eat any mince pies.’ Everyone heard that as, ‘Don’t eat anything’.” Many dancers have some degree of body dysmorphia, they say. And who could be surprised? Nobody with a belly will be given a job in Chicago."

I definitely feel i can relate to this extract, the pressure of being at dance college constantly staring in the mirrors analysing your every move and body position and physique does mean you can start to loose perception on what is normal. It can become obsessive and un natural, of course this is not the case for everyone but i feel most dancers have become self conscious of their bodies, always comparing and competing against that person standing next to you. Will Storr, who wrote the article, mentions how,' the teachers don't help.' This i feel is a very bold statement as it is a generalising fact, not all teachers are the same or would say such things. I have however heard of dance colleges, where such statements have been said by teachers, this is a very difficult topic as each student will interpret such comments differently and can trigger problems such as eating disorders, this leads me on to this second extract below:  

"As well as poorer, dancers are getting smaller – the boys as well as the girls. Even the Inko dancers, visibly healthy every one, often go carbless, sticking to chicken and broccoli if something big is coming up. Michelle says: “You get a bit stricter when you know there’s something where you have to be looking good and you’re going to be wearing hardly anything, which for the girls can be most of the time.”

I can relate to this extract to, i know if i have an audition coming up i will try and eat less leading up to it so i can feel good in my dance wear and look the smallest i can. After all nobody wants to be cut from an audition for being too big? Do i agree with this no, but this does seem to be the way it is. However has this really changed over the years or have you always had to be slim to be a dancer ? This is good questioning for my Inquiry. Are eating disorders and body dismorphia new and increasing in dance industry or are we just more open and aware about it now?

"The queue! Out of the door and up the narrow street. Hundreds of girls in full make-up, showing so much skin. Steph began hyperventilating. Then she went home."

This extract i can also relate too as i have been standing next to a friend who has panicked in line at an audition and made up an excuse that she was going to find a friend and then she never returned. This just shows how much pressure is put on dancers and how stressful auditions can be. 

Of course this is just one article about dancers in London and i am interested to find an article of New York dancers and see the comparisons. 

This article has had some critiques, some from dancers and non- dancers. Below is an example of a critique: 

"I thought the Telegraph being the kind of paper it is would have come up with a much better informed article describing the commercial dance industry. You wrote about all the bad stuff that SOMETIMES happens and it has been exaggerated and grossly slanted. I am actually a commercial dancer myself and have danced for Cheryl Cole, Nicole Scherzy, Rihanna and a regular on the X Factor series for 5 years. There are good and bad sides to our industry just like anyone else's, but it is nowhere near as bad as you have made out here. There are many many positive sides to what we do and alot of us have had long fruitful careers that are still ongoing (and we do earn money). This article comes from a very bitter jaded point of view. Not impressed Telegraph!!!!!!!!!"

I would argue that this critique has come from a dancer who has been very lucky and like they have mentioned had a 'long fruitful career' and it is getting harder and harder to get a 'break' in this modern world. However i do agree with the fact that this article is very one sided and it has left out a lot of positives that comes from working as a dancer/performer. 

I would love to know your views on this article and if there are any points in it that you can relate to and if you have any experiences like this that you would like to share and start to create some SIG.


Heather X