Have you ever been criticized negatively about your body image? Did it hurt you deeply? I have been criticized negatively about my curvy hips and bust and it hurt me a lot to the point that I am scared by it. This article from Dance Magazine talks about this type of situation with 3 professional dancers and it touched me deeply because I can relate to the 3 professional dancers. I am sure all dancers (and even non dancers) can relate to this article on some level. This is powerful! Then check out what Mental Health Specialist Cortney Veazey says about the subject. It help. Also take a look at A Critique on Critics, Check it out!
Hosted by: Dance Magazine
Written by: Kathleen McGuire
“When New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay wrote in his review of New York City Ballet’s Nutcracker that “Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many,” the dance world yelled foul. Ringer, a celebrated principal with NYCB, has graced the cover of Dance Magazine four times (as many as Balanchine great Violette Verdy), and recently starred in a fashion spread in Elle. The event, dubbed “Sugarplumgate,” left dancers all over the country looking at their own reflections wondering, If she’s fat, then what am I? Blogs and message boards on the internet lit up with emotional cries on Ringer’s behalf, but the call to arms was about more than Ringer as an individual. It was an opportunity to discuss the harshness of the criticism of dancers’ bodies every day. Overnight, Ringer became a symbol of poise in the face of criticism. Appearing in interviews on The Today Show and Oprah shortly after Black Swan’s unhinged Nina Sayers was thrust into popular culture, here stood Jenifer Ringer, the picture of class and maturity, to gently place our feet back on the ground.”
MR