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The truth is that a large percentage of people are not completely satisfied with the way their bodies look. For a dancer, this truth can be overwhelming. In a dance class, the mirror is used as a visual aid, allowing the dancer to see artistic shapes and patterns. It is supposed to help with body awareness and proper technique. Why then, do many dancers dread the thought of looking at themselves in the mirror? What awful body stereotypes and unrealistic expectations are causing dancers to have such a lack of love and appreciation for their own bodies?
It is true that excessive body weight can affect balance and wear on the joints. I know this from my own personal experience. An increase of ten pounds can really affect control of my body during turns. However, one should not go too far along this line of reasoning. Excessive weight loss can be damaging to the dancer’s health.
We are all unique, and isn’t that a good thing? Imagine that two dancers are performing the same movement. They will not look exactly the same, as they both have unique and individual bodies. Artistically speaking, that is very exciting! As a choreographer, I used to love to see my ideas come to fruition with my dancers. They would take my suggestions and execute particular movements. However, these would often not look the same as I had originally visualized, because their bodies were not identical to mine. While this really presented a challenge, it was both satisfying and rewarding to deal with the unexpected!
As an artist, I realized that dancers were truly giving themselves a gift by accepting, loving, and appreciating the uniqueness of their own bodies. By so doing, they were making the most of those mirrors in the classroom and focusing on proper technique, rather than on how thick their thighs appeared to be.
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