It is not disrespectful. It is fact. Eating disorders hit ballet dancers at 3x the rate of the general public.

Anonymous wrote:Sure. But we are talking about .00000001% . And let's not pretend that the risk of a pitcher blowing out his arm is the same as a ballet dancer with eating disorder. One can be easily repaired, the other deadly. If a pitcher gets signed, league minimum is mid- 6 figures. If a ballet dancer signs, they are making $20,000 tops.

Then if you agree, just accept that there will always be specialized instruction for all manner of professions, and that some will be drawn to them, despite the risks.

There is no need to disrespect the students for whom this is a passion and question their life choices, unless you want to boycott all the professional and semi-professional Nutcracker performances for ever. Or any ballet. As well as National Philharmonic, top notch student orchestras like MCYO, Washington National Opera, etc...

Sure. But we are talking about .00000001% . And let's not pretend that the risk of a pitcher blowing out his arm is the same as a ballet dancer with eating disorder. One can be easily repaired, the other deadly. If a pitcher gets signed, league minimum is mid- 6 figures. If a ballet dancer signs, they are making $20,000 tops.

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. I was really shocked when I came across this study. It seems to disproportionately affect ballet only studios. If your child loves to dance, why not a multi-modality option where this is not as big an issue. It seems like a no-brainer. If it is a passion it should be fun and safe.

Hmm. Perhaps it's because your children are young, but you and other PPs don't seem to understand that some kids really want a specific experience. I know a few young teens who are really hard-core into classical ballet, and no other form of dance will do. They can only get top-level instruction at studios which specialize in ballet, of course. They might become professional dancers some day, and one of them is already being recruited. Likewise, I know a few teen musicians who are hard-core into classical music, and no other form of music will do. They're not at Bach-to-Rock, but at specialized music studios, and it's extremely competitive. Musicians also get injuries from repetitive movements, like other movement-based activities.

I don't think you'd question athletes who need high quality, specialized instruction for a specific sport. Why would you assume it's different for other arts?
In every activity, to reach the top, the laser focus and massive effort are the same. Taken to extremes, each activity has great rewards and great risks. Yet here's the thing - to be among the best, you have to be extreme.

I am OP. I was really shocked when I came across this study. It seems to disproportionately affect ballet only studios. If your child loves to dance, why not a multi-modality option where this is not as big an issue. It seems like a no-brainer. If it is a passion it should be fun and safe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may be old news to you but it is new too me. Unless your kid is the next Misty Koplan, why would you put your kid through a risk factor like that?

Because ballet is their passion. Do you honestly think you can refuse a child their passion? ood luck with that.

My kids left ballet years ago, but we loved MYB, still go to performances, and have friends there. This is one of those cases where the perceived risk is scarier (to some people) than many actual risks you take daily... like driving, which is one the deadliest activities humans undertake regularly. Using stairs in your home is another. Anorexia while doing ballet? Way, way, way down the list of risks. Especially if you are aware and talk to your kids.

How much is MYB paying you to work tonight?

??? What is wrong with you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may be old news to you but it is new too me. Unless your kid is the next Misty Koplan, why would you put your kid through a risk factor like that?

Because ballet is their passion. Do you honestly think you can refuse a child their passion? ood luck with that.

My kids left ballet years ago, but we loved MYB, still go to performances, and have friends there. This is one of those cases where the perceived risk is scarier (to some people) than many actual risks you take daily... like driving, which is one the deadliest activities humans undertake regularly. Using stairs in your home is another. Anorexia while doing ballet? Way, way, way down the list of risks. Especially if you are aware and talk to your kids.

How much is MYB paying you to work tonight?

Anonymous wrote:There are studios that are being proactive. I have a friends whose daughter has an eating disorder and was dancing. She had a huge problem with eating since she was a toddler and it has followed her. But she loved herr dance. Her studio actually told her that she needed to weigh a certain weight, a healthy weight, and meet certain nutritional guidelines if she wanted to dance with them. She moved from eating only chicken nuggets to eating a wider diet and getting to a healthy weight because of the studio and her families support.

So it is an issue and most people know that it is an issue. There are studios that are working to encourage dancers to be healthy.

Bet this wasn't a ballet only studio.

Anonymous wrote:This may be old news to you but it is new too me. Unless your kid is the next Misty Koplan, why would you put your kid through a risk factor like that?

Because ballet is their passion. Do you honestly think you can refuse a child their passion? ood luck with that.

My kids left ballet years ago, but we loved MYB, still go to performances, and have friends there. This is one of those cases where the perceived risk is scarier (to some people) than many actual risks you take daily... like driving, which is one the deadliest activities humans undertake regularly. Using stairs in your home is another. Anorexia while doing ballet? Way, way, way down the list of risks. Especially if you are aware and talk to your kids.

There are studios that are being proactive. I have a friends whose daughter has an eating disorder and was dancing. She had a huge problem with eating since she was a toddler and it has followed her. But she loved herr dance. Her studio actually told her that she needed to weigh a certain weight, a healthy weight, and meet certain nutritional guidelines if she wanted to dance with them. She moved from eating only chicken nuggets to eating a wider diet and getting to a healthy weight because of the studio and her families support.

So it is an issue and most people know that it is an issue. There are studios that are working to encourage dancers to be healthy.

I have a daughter with a severe eating disorder. I would do anything to avoid increased risk. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever been through. She has nearly died. Twice. She seems to have finally started to truly recover. It’s been seven years of absolute hell.

This may be old news to you but it is new too me. Unless your kid is the next Misty Koplan, why would you put your kid through a risk factor like that?

Yes, This is a very real concern. I have been a professional dancer for decades. I have taught at the university level. Yes, ballet has a huge eating disorder rate that does not happen at the same rate as other techniques. it is not opinion, it is well documented, even in companies that preach a healthy body image. The prevalence in gym, or mens wrestling for that matter does not excuse ballet. Yes, this worries me. It is an unfortunate engrained norm.

This is old news, OP. Gym too, and all related activities.

You just keep reiterating what a healthy body should eat, look and feel like, and have an ear to the ground at the ballet studio / competitive gym team about what the instructors are telling the kids. Some are very good about casting all body types for the performances, and telling the kids to eat (kudos, MYB!).

It seems ballet only dancers are 3x more likely to develop an eating disorder. Does this worry you? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24277724/