Food and Ballet
There are many truths that are hidden in the ballet world. One is that yes, dancers have eating disorders of one kind or another at some point in their dancing career. If you hear a ballerina say, "Oh no, dancers need to eat to be strong," feel free to believe your gut because that dancer is lying to you. It's a practiced lie. What you say when someone asks "Do dancers have eating disorders?" is, "Oh no! Strength is much too important. You need to be able to be strong to dance well, and if you don't eat well you're not strong. Dancers know better than to eat poorly."
All very true. But for the truth that is left out- Dancers still have eating disorders. It's right up there with the pointe shoe lie, "Pointe shoes don't hurt, if you have properly fitting shoes." LIE. They still hurt.
Things are changing in the ballet world in regard to diet, so the young dancers coming up aren't as likely to have a bad relationship with food. Still, when you combine the physical demands of dance with girl's already very present awareness of body image? It's a recipe for disaster for many.
Often a teacher can tell their students time and again how important it is that they eat well, and make no mention of body image or weight, yet a dancer will look at herself and decide if she were thinner, she might dance better. In my day this was what you were told in no uncertain terms by your teachers. Eat less, dance better. Fortunately today most teachers tell their students the truth, "It's not weight that keeps you from dancing well, it is strength." Regardless, some girls will still take matters into their own hands, and what starts out as a diet can quickly spiral out of control, especially when a student or dancer feels that all they have control over is what they eat.
Eating disorders begin with food, but truly are a self-damaging behavior aimed at maintaining control over one's life. This method of control, trying to fix a much deeper problem, will leave the sufferer so malnurished that their brain no longer functions well enough for them to even think clearly. They have no idea what they are saying or doing. Much like someone with a high fever, they are no longer 'right in the head'.
The good news is that for most dancers, eating disorders are a fleeting affair. Unlike the average woman or girl with an eating disorder who is still able to go about their daily life, dancers are often able to realize how their actions are destroying their ability to dance, and this is what usually helps to snap them out of it. Although it can take years to be able to recover fully. There is another thing that tends to keep most dancers eating disorders at bay- dancers LOVE to eat!
But that truth of the ballet world will need it's own blog post.
