KEYWORDS
Body image, beauty standards, dancers, social media, identity
BEAUTY STANDARDS IN DANCE
Beauty standards in professional dance, mainly performative and theatrical, have long been a topic of discussion, reflecting broader societal norms and pressures. As noted by Bethel (2024, 1) “Singers have their voice, artists and photographers have their hands, athletes and performers have their bodies. With a greater focus on the appearance of body image, there is a greater emphasis on body image issues for dancers”, implying that for dancers, the body is not merely a vessel but an instrument of artistry. Unlike singers or visual artists, who may have more flexibility in how they present themselves, professional dancers are often subjected to standards concerning their physicality. Carlo Blasis’s book The Code of Terpsichore codified the body and movement for a ballet dancer. The work contains detailed descriptions of the “ideal” forms of poses and steps in ballet, which dancers were expected to study and embody (Blasis 1830). The author, for instance, states: “Every part of the body must, in its motions, be in harmony one with the other. It is the acme of perfection.” (Blasis 1830, 42). Moreover, Blasis claims that “A dancer who wishes to charm the beholder’s eye must display all the elegance that his fancy can inspire him with, in the carriage of his body, the easy development of his limbs, and the gracefulness of every attitude into which he throws himself.” (Blasis 1830, 65). This statement sets an expectation for ballet dancers: their bodies and movements must embody a “perfect” form of beauty, elegance, and grace at all times, reflecting a phenomenon that equates artistic excellence with physical aesthetics.
Fischer (1990, 17) identified nine areas that define a person’s body image. These include: the perception and evaluation of one’s body appearance, the accuracy of the perception of one’s body size, the accuracy of the perception of one’s bodily sensations or feelings about the definiteness and protective value of the body boundaries. The rigid criteria often associated with professional dance, especially with ballet, such as a specific body type, can significantly impact dancers’ self-perception and body image. Several studies in dance research have highlighted negative outcomes of this self-perception, such as eating disorders and distorted body image (Dantas et al. 2018; van Winden et al. 2020). Susan Foster (1997) discusses the “ideal” body in dance as a construct shaped by technique, tradition, and cultural expectations. She distinguishes between the “tangible” and “actual” body – what a dancer physically possesses and experiences – and the “ideal” body, which is visualized or imagined as the “perfect” form that the dancer aspires to achieve (Foster 1997, 237).