artist statement
This research project centers around classical ballet’s fixation on body type by exploring the history of female dancers and the emphasis placed on their bodies throughout centuries. The research I conducted took this idea further by discovering the implications of such a fixation on the various mental illnesses that dancers grapple with daily. I was able to connect the authoritarian roots of dance pedagogy and the objectification of female bodies to the overall mental health of dancers.
The research paper gathered sources that teach the reader about the European history of ballet, its American creators, teaching styles that perpetuate abuse in many dance environments, and the underlying culture that fosters suffering and sacrifice while undermining the idea of seeking support and taking care of oneself. I was able to then use the podcast aspect of the project to relate those ideas back to real people. By sharing my own experience and speaking with a friend of mine, I connected the audience back to the humanity of it all. As human beings, we all suffer, and in ballet, that suffering can be heightened and even more so pushed under the rug. By sharing stories and asking people to challenge what they know to be the norm in dance, I hope to be a part of shifting the focus of ballet away from thin bodies and illness and redirecting it to the physical feat of dance and the beauty of each individual dancer.
One of the most influential sources I used in my research was Robin Lakes’s assessment of pedagogy in concert style dance, “The Messages behind the Methods: The Authoritarian Pedagogical Legacy in Western Concert Dance Technique Training and Rehearsals.” While reading her paper, I was amazed at how blatantly harsh and abusive dance teaching can be, and how unphased I was by it. As someone who has spent more time in a dance studio than anywhere else in my life, I am completely used to accounts like the ones recalled in Lakes’s paper. I realized how unhealthy that was–to be desensitized to emotional abuse by adults at such a young age, and it made me sure that I need to be a part of disrupting the cycle that is still upheld in so many ballet environments.
In my discussion with Anna Lukacz on the podcast, we recalled how it felt to be surrounded by adults who did nothing to care for our wellbeing, and instead tore us down based on how we looked most of the time. This still has an effect on us today, even though both of us no longer dance. To be made to believe that you are not enough at such a young age can have lifelong effects on your mental health.
This project encompasses my entire experience as a dancer in many ways. I had a chance to approach my relationship with dance through an academic lens, as a way to better understand the origins of the art form that I love, and the reasons why ballet treats its dancers the way it does to this day. The narrative that a ballerina looks a certain way is so harmful to young, vulnerable minds that seek validation in everything that they do. This narrative is centuries deep, and will take many hard working minds and communities to undo, but I do believe it to be possible and so rewarding.
About the Show: The Ballet Body with Lily O'Hara
In this episode, Lily discusses the ballet community’s obsession with thin bodies and the subsequent pressures that dancers put on themselves that end up leading to many mental health challenges. She shares her own challenges that arose from the pressure she felt and the sacrifices she made as a teenager and young adult and emphasizes that the measures that dancers take in the search for validation can turn into dangerous habits that risk the dancer’s overall wellbeing.
Anna Lukacz joins Lily to speak about their experience at a pre professional training program that fueled many of the mental health challenges they both dealt with throughout their dance careers and since. Being young and vulnerable, student dancers search for any ounce of validation they can get–and in many of these environments, this validation comes from being thin and small. Dancers are assessed by their looks and not much more. The culture of silent suffering leads students not to ask for help when they are struggling with their mental health–and in some cases, their physical health or an injury as well. This can lead to a lot of self doubt in dancers, which can eventually turn into an array of mental health challenges including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and more.
Call to Action: The solution to the problematic culture of illness and pressure for young dancers is a shift in focus from body type to a more well-rounded focus on dancers as a whole. Mental health support should be provided and normalized for all dancers, and teachers have a responsibility to place less of an emphasis on thinness and sacrifice and focus more on healthy training and realistic, smart goals that preserve dancers’ mental health. Abusive environments can no longer be the norm for children who want to dance.
Host: Lily O'Hara
Lily is from Baltimore, Maryland where she danced at Baltimore School for the Arts for her entire childhood. After dancing at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and as a trainee with Charlotte Ballet, she chose to take a step away from dance and attend Boston University to study psychology. She has a deep passion for mental health awareness and the arts. She hopes to use her love for ballet to promote wellbeing among dancers and teachers and advocate for healthier ways to achieve success in the field.
Guest: Anna Lukacz
Anna Lukacz is from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she grew up dancing at Portsmouth School of Ballet. She trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in their high school full-time program and graduate program from 2017 through the beginning of 2020. She is now living in Detroit, working in ministry and pursuing a degree in human services. She is the middle sister of three girls, enjoys writing, and is currently teaching herself guitar. Although she no longer dances full time, Anna still has a deep love for the art form.
Image of Lily (left) and Anna (right) dancing in the summer of 2018 at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre