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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This (below) is a pretty good piece about the pros and cons of young girls getting into competitive gymnastics.  The pros are listed at the top.  Later in the article, the author talks about the extreme punishment the sport does to the mind, body and soul.  Another issue that has not been mentioned is poor social development.  Ballet dancers are the same way.  The training is so hard, rigorous and at such a young age, that many of the dancers and gymnasts regress and become isolated socially.

http://krsharp05.hubpages.com/hub/Kids-and-Competitive-Gymnastics[/quote]

Okay, even if we give you the injury thing...unsocialized? Really?

You must know very, very few dancers.  Just sayin'[/quote]

Not at all.  Professional ballet dancer.  Started dancing with ballet companies at 15.  Could rattle off anything you want to know.  I've seen anorexics take barre and worried they would die in class.  I've seen male dancer have surgeries on their feet to create a better arch.  I've seen other dancers cut the ribbons of competitors' pointe shoes.  Also glass.  Didn't you see "Black Swan".  It's well documented that young ballet dancers have little social life and also enter puberty late because they have to keep their weight so low.  Gelsey Kirkland's book is a good one about how unsocialized the dance world is - so she turned to coke and hard drugs.  I've seen every diet from the cabbage soup one to just apples.  Most dancers now carry protein bars to get them through the day.  A normal day in a company runs like this:  9:30 all company manster class; afternoon rehearsa; evening performance.  Then back to the barre at 9:30 a.m. the next morning.  Also, remember most dancers never go to college. They are already placed in companies as early as 12 (mommy trotting behind homeschooling) and you must be in the corps by 16.  There's no time for fun.  And for some peculiar unwritten rule, no one ever talks while dressing in the dressing room or at the barre.  I've taken class around the world and have never seen dancers go off in pairs or make freinds.  It's a tough world.  Black Swan got it right.  Want to know anything else?[/quote]

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