“Can A Ballerina Eat Ice Cream?”: A Mixed-Method Study on Eating Attitudes and Body Image in Female Ballet Dancers

Aim: We aimed to explore how a group of classical ballet dancers perceived their eating attitudes and their bodies, with special attention to the potential presence of eating disorders (EDs) symptoms and body image (dis)satisfaction.Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed-method study was conducted on fourteen trained classical ballet dancers (18–30 years old). Their experiences, perceptions, and feelings regarding eating attitudes and body image concerning classical ballet were acquired through qualitative focus groups. The presence of EDs symptoms and perception and (dis)satisfaction with body image was analyzed quantitatively through self-report questionnaires.Results: Participants reported concerning eating attitudes during the focus groups, such as the regular practice of several restrictive popular diets, constant restriction of foods considered “heavy” or “fatty,” meal skipping and ignoring signs of hunger, presence of overeating episodes due to stress and anxiety, feeling guilty about breaking their usual diet, classifying foods as “good” and “bad” or “lean” and “fat,” and excluding some of those foods from their usual diets. These reports were partially reflected in the questionnaires, with 50% of the ballerinas showing bulimic symptoms indicative of an unusual eating pattern (only two of them with a significant risk index), 7.1% showing symptoms of moderate binge eating, and 14.3% symptoms of EDs in general. Additionally, when considering their bodies in the context of everyday life, participants were satisfied; however, in the “classical ballet” context, they reported feeling dissatisfied with their shape. These findings were in line with results from the Stunkard's Scale, which revealed that 50% of the sample was dissatisfied with their current body shape and 57.1% indicated that their desired body shape was a leaner figure than one they considered healthy.Conclusions: The constant practice of restrictive diets and other weight-loss strategies to achieve a leaner body were associated with symptoms of EDs and body dissatisfaction in this sample. Importantly, the questionnaires used seemed to underestimate the presence of a disordered eating pattern reported by the participants during focus groups. These data could help to inform psychological and nutritional strategies aimed at improving performance, physical and psychological well-being, and quality of life of ballet dancers.

Modern Dance as an American Alternative to Classical Ballet

The choreographic art of the United States developed in a new direction and was looking for new forms corresponding to the trends of the modern era in many ways. By the beginning of the 20th century, the classical ballet of the USA rooted in Russian choreographic culture had experienced the lack of the means of expression that could reflect a new range of themes, images, philosophical and artistic concepts that had developed by that time and required a new dance style, genres, aesthetics. Modern dance emerged along with the development of the national political and artistic and creative self-consciousness of Americans in general, during the development of national musical, choreographic, and poetic traditions by cultural figures, who searched for their path in art. The study analyses the features of American modern dance. The artistic and aesthetic principles of modern dance are identified and the historical and cultural prerequisites for the development of the national choreographic school of the United States are revealed. The study uses theoretical methods such as visual and textual analysis of choreographic performances and music for performances, comparison of means of plastic expression, movements and figures of classical ballet and modern dance, principles of stage development of artistic images of performances. The empirical study is based on the generalisation of the practical experience of staging performances by leading American dancers of the 20th century. As a result, it is noted that the features of modern dance are completely different to those of the United States classical ballet, testifying to the desire of Americans to reflect the problems of modernity and convey the unique national character of the United States culture by using elements of African or Indian dances, as well as movements that are not characteristic of classical ballet but reflect the spirit of modernity. The materials of the study are of theoretical and practical value for specialists who work with the problems of culture and art of the 20th century, including modern choreography.

The beauty of choreographic genius – Oleg Danovski, proponent of the national ballet repertoire

A prominent figure in national ballet, Oleg Danovski is one of the personalities of 20th century ballet. He gave the world a vast repertoire consisting of classical, neoclassical, modern ballets, Romanian ballets, and divertimentos for operas. Despite his success with classical ballet staging that would make him famous abroad, the choreographer also turned his attention to folklore, by addressing specific local themes. Thus, through this desire to study and stylize the folk dance, he brought an important contribution to the Romanian cultivated dance, from which the image of the Romanian character dance would stem. He was devoted to the idea of Romanian ballet theater and he advocated for original music for ballet, a national repertoire and the development of the Romanian ballet school. His Romanian creations are precious pages of the history of Romanian ballet that should not be forgotten, and that have enormously contributed to the enrichment of the original choreographic repertoire.

Staging the Folk: Choreographic Issues of National Representation

This article looks at the multiple ways that folk dance has been staged in both the nineteenth century when character or national (the two terms were used interchangeably) dance was widely used in classical ballet, and the twentieth in which Igor Moiseyev created a new genre of dance related to it. The ballet masters that created character dance for ballet often created ballroom dances based on folk origin, but that would be suitable for the urban population. This popularity of national dance was the result of the burgeoning of romantic nationalism that swept Europe after the French Revolution. Beginning in the 1930s with Igor Moiseyev founding the first professional ‘folk dance’ company for the Soviet Union, nation states across the world established large, state-supported folk dance companies for purposes of national and ethnic representation that dominated the stages of the world for the second half of the twentieth century. These staged versions of folk dance, were, I argue an extension of nineteenth century national/character dance because their founding directors, like Igor Moiseyev, came from the era when ballet dancers were trained in that genre.

Dance at school and its contribution to the cognitive development of children through classic ballet

ThisworkdiscussesdanceandthecognitivedevelopmentofchildreninEarlyChildhoodEducation.ForDancetobecomeeffective,weintendtounderstandthatteachersbecomecreators and authors of their own practices to promote learning at this level of education.Themainobjectiveistoinvestigatewhetherthepracticeofdanceinaschoolenvironment,specificallythroughclassicalballet,collaborateswiththecognitivedevelopmentof childrenaged2to5years, helping inthe learningprocessintheclassroom. As a methodological strategy, a systematic literature review was carried outwith an analysis of periodicals published in Portuguese, between the years 2012 to 2020,usingtheacademicgoogle,scielo,bvs,andPubMeddatabases.Ourstudywascarriedoutbetween February and November 2020. In this sense, we understand that dance enablesthedevelopmentofthestudent'sattention,perception,reasoning,memoryandimagination,contributingtocognitivedevelopmentatatimewhenitisnecessarytorelatemovements to rhythms, asit is precisely at this stage that experiences and experienceshappen. that will be recorded for the rest of your life, even if you are not initially awareof it. The results showed that dance is a valuable tool in cognitive development, as thestudent isled to think, understand and solve problems when performing the specificmovementsofthisdancepractice.Ourworkisofimportantnecessityduetothefactthatthere are still few studies that deal specifically with the practice of classical ballet andcognitive development, thus becoming one more research document necessary for futurestudies. We conclude that dance contributes to the cognitive development of students asanalternativepracticethroughitsrhythms,steps,exercises,choreographicsequencesandcreativity.

Ideological and philosophical principles of thematization of ballet criticism by Akim Volynsky

The purpose of the article is to identify the main ideological and philosophical principles of thematization of ballet criticism by Akim Volynsky. Methodology. The research was carried out on the basis of theoretical generalizations, systematization, comparison, using the chronological principle and culturological approach. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the main ideological and philosophical principles of thematization of the ballet criticism of Akim Volynsky are revealed. Conclusions. For А. Volynsky, the concepts of "mind" and "spirit" were synonymous, which testifies to the effectiveness and productivity of his critical academic modernist (symbolist) ballet discourse, educational, focused on the harmony of rational and spiritual principles of intention. Unlike many contemporaries who professed the cult of Dionysus, Volynsky considered Apollo the highest symbol of spirituality and intellectuality in man. But he argued that the "Apollonian" revival in the culture of that time was opposed by a too strong and all-pervading chaotic "Dionysian" principle. Volynsky traces the evolution of classical ballet from ancient cults and seeks to comprehend its psychological content. He believed that criticism should be non-ideological, artistic, based on absolute idealistic values, which caused a wide range of opinions of theorists and practitioners of ballet art: from harsh condemnation (A. Gvozdev, A. Piotrovsky, I. Sollertinsky) to recognizing the importance of the critic's theoretical intentions for in its time (V. Gaevsky, R. Zakharov). A. Volynsky contributed to the institutionalization of ballet criticism in the Russian Empire and in the Soviet Union, differentiating it into professional and amateurish.

Amateur ballet practicing, body image and eating behaviors: a comparative study of classical ballet dancers, gym users and sedentary women

Background Ballet dancers are a risk group for body image (BI) distortion, dissatisfaction and eating disorders (ED), but few studies have investigated these aspects in amateur adult practitioners. This study aimed to evaluate if amateur female adult classical ballet dancers presented different BI and behaviors for ED than gym users and sedentary women. Methods This is a cross-sectional study where classical ballet dancers (n = 19) were compared to gym users (n = 19) and sedentary women (n = 19). Body mass index (BMI) was assessed, and a figure rating scale was applied to assess BI distortion/dissatisfaction. The body shape questionnaire (BSQ) was used to measure BI concern. The eating attitudes test (EAT-26) and the bulimic investigatory test, Edinburgh (BITE) were used for behaviors toward anorexia and bulimia. Results BMI was significantly lower in ballet dancers than gym users and sedentary women (F, p = .04). BI distortion did not differ among the studied groups. BI dissatisfaction was lower (X2, p = .041) in ballet dancers (75.0%) and gym users (70.6%) compared to sedentary women (100%). Correspondence analysis showed ballet dancers were mostly not concerned with BI, which was not observed among the other groups. The EAT-26 did not differ between the studied groups. The BITE score was lower (Tukey’s post hoc test, p = .005) in the ballet dancers [mean 5.3 (5.6)] compared to the sedentary women [mean 10.9 (4.8)]. Conclusions Data suggest that amateur classical ballet practicing is associated to better BI and fewer behaviors for ED in the studied population. The lower BMI in ballet dancers might explain these findings, and further studies should explore these associations.

Legacy

This chapter begins with the Nicholas Brothers’ 1998 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award citation, and continues with a descriptive summary of the classic style of jazz tap dancing created by the Nicholas Brothers and the several themes that recur in their work. The chapter then makes several assertions. First, The Nicholas Brothers were the greatest dancing duet of all time on film, and the medium of film was perfect for their signature style: synchronized precision movement that became the equivalent to the pas de deux in classical ballet, which challenged its partners to execute the highest degree of controlled precision while moving together with smooth effortlessness. Second, the Nicholas Brothers were role models in the black community; resisted black stereotypes in their professional and private lives; and were a persistent embodiment of nonviolent activism. Third, there is no more illustrative proof of the dance legacy of the Nicholas Brothers than their long-standing influence on future generations of tap dancers. Finally, the chapter enumerates the talents of Harold and Fayard Nicholas that did not reach fruition—because of both their devotion to dancing as a duo and to the narrow constraints that were imposed on them as African-American musical artists. This discussion does not bemoan this imposition but envisions the opportunities that should have been presented to them.

BALLET FOLCLÓRICO MERCEDES BAPTISTA: ENTRE BRASILIDADE E NEGRITUDE NO RIO DE JANEIRO DAS DÉCADAS DE 1950 E 1960 / Mercedes Baptista Folk Ballet: between Brazilianess and Blackness in Rio de Janeiro during the 1950’s and 1960’s

Abordagem histórico-crítica sobre a emergência de uma dança negra cênica no Rio de Janeiro, nas décadas de 1950 e 1960, consolidada pela bailarina e coreógrafa Mercedes Baptista mediante a articulação das técnicas do balé clássico, das danças modernas e de consistente pesquisa acerca das danças afro-brasileiras e dos pés de dança do candomblé. Levando em conta as possibilidades de abertura e transformação dos códigos próprios do que hoje é uma das vertentes de maior peso do que se entende por danças afro, que permitiram a criação de novas poéticas e metodologias, o texto aponta para a existência de uma estética negra que se construiu no campo das artes cênicas no contexto da diáspora negra.Palavras-chave: Mercedes Baptista; História da dança; Danças negras. AbstractThis text takes a historical and critical approach to the emergence of Black concert dance in Rio de Janeiro between the 1950s and 1960s. This movement found its consolidation through the ballet dancer and choreographer Mercedes Baptista’s articulations between classical ballet, modern dances, as well as her consistent research regarding secular and religious Afro-Brazilian dances. By considering the possibilities of openings and transformations within the codes of Danças Afro that allow for the creation of new poetics and methodologies, the text also seeks to base the existence of a Black aesthetics in the performance arts within the context of the black diaspora.Keywords: Mercedes Baptista; Dance history; Black dance.