Image of the Ballerina

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Ballet is a very tough career that comes along with a very strict code of appearances and abilities. Angela Pickard’s academic journal, “Ballet Body Belief: perceptions of an ideal ballet body from young ballet dancers”, addresses the exemplary body sought after by all ballerinas and beyond. The aesthetic for “almost skeletal, hyper-flexible, ephemeral bodies” has grown in the common audiences of “predominantly white, middle-class women” (Pickard 7). The image of the prima ballerina with white pearly skin, pink tights, and beautiful lines has existed in society since the creation of George Balanchine’s perfect ballerina. George Balanchine was a Russian choreographer and dancer who brought ballet to The United States in the 1900’s. He created the School of American Ballet to train his own dancers in the image that he so desired. Jennifer Dunning’s article, “The Creation of the Balanchine Ballerina”, published in the New York Times, discusses the journey of Kyra Nichols, a ballerina in the New York City Ballet during the rise of Balanchine, and her differences from the typical Balanchine ballerina. The Balanchine stereotype was that of a young girl with a small head, long legs and exceptionally thin. This ideal has spread throughout centuries into today’s society. These stereotypes do not necessarily exclude any certain person but yet go alongside the serious training and athletic abilities in ballet. Mr. Balanchine was known to work with all different types of dancers but required them to be well-trained, have nice bodies, musicality, and excellent technique. The question that arises is why was (and still is) the ideal ballerina white and where are the black ballerinas? To look into this phenomenon, we must glance at the history and origin of ballet itself. Gretchen Schmid’s article, “The Art of Power: How Louis XIV Ruled France … With Ballet”, explores the history of ballet and the impact it had on Europe. Ballet originated in Italy and was brought to France in the 15th century by Catherine de Medici; however, Louis XIV was the one who really pushed ballet higher up in the realm of importance. During this time, the royal court were the only ones who could access the training and technique of ballet as it became one of the most important social functions of the court. Since the courts were filled with predominantly white males, people of color truly had no introduction to the art of ballet which has had an impact upon up the lack of black ballerinas across the historical context of dance.

The body standards that have held high to this day make the ballet world a very hard one to enter. Pickard’s journal examines the vast effects the standards have put upon aspiring ballerinas. Many dancers struggle with anorexia and bulimia as they try and achieve the most perfect body type for the profession. Yet when African Americans see the white ballerina plastered around social media, how is it even possible for them to achieve their look? Stacia L. Brown’s article, “Where are the Black Ballerinas?”, published on the Washington Post, addresses the issue in the lack of diversity within the ballet community. Michaela DePrince, a dark-skinned ballerina who debuted in the documentary, First Position, argues, “As a black ballerina, racism is less about what happens to you and more about what doesn’t happen to you”. As a medium of inspiration for young girls, the lack of current black ballerinas diminishes the drive to start a new generation of color in ballet. Another obstacle aspiring black ballerinas face are the costumes and everyday garments that are created solely for the white ballerina including peach colored ballet slippers and nude colored tights. The HuffPost article, “Why Are There So Few Black Ballet Dancers?” , evaluates the inconspicuous discrimination that exists in the ballet world. White skin is (and has been) the uniform for ballet. Although it can be argued that the reason there is a lack of black ballerinas is due to the fact that black children are not interested in the subject and never come to a studio in the first place, the ballet world has literally created a norm for white children to be involved in ballet and discouraged the African-American interest. The American Ballet Theater has had only three black ballerinas since its inception in 1937 and out of the English National Ballet corps 64 dancers, only 2 of them are black (2016 statistics). Luke Jennings, an acclaimed dance critic, claims, “there is not a single director of a UK ballet company who wouldn’t jump at a talented black or mixed-race dancer”. Yet do we know that this is true? Or is discrimination still running deep within the ballet world? For a black woman to dance as the black swan with any ballet company would be a world renown event. Yet why hasn’t this occurred in the 21st century? Is society still hung up on the ideal ballerina from Balanchine’s reign or is there room for the colored ballerina to take over?