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The height and weight of a ballerina is a very important subject for dancers because they have a three times higher risk of suffering from an eating disorder when compared to the general population. Attempting to control one’s body weight leads them to an uphill battle against biology.
Additionally, weight loss methods and encouragement of hard diets, feeds a culture of systemic oppression and weight bias. This is why there are many toxic effects of ballet both physically and mentally because of its connection to distorted body image. Its cause for unstable mental health, and the harsh physical demands and injuries related to this art.
A dancer’s ideal weight is not the weight that requires restrictive meal plans, calorie counting and obsessive exercise routines but rather one that can be maintained without dieting. It fuels performance and makes room for all foods.
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What is the ideal female ballet body? Experts concur that she should be slim with a long neck, a shortest to medium length torso and long legs
The ideal weight for a ballerina depends on the ballet company and the individual ballerina. Ballet has attempted to move in a more modern and sensitive direction by accepting larger dancers, but there is still a certain body type that is considered most appealing on the stage.
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Manny experts concur that a ballerina body’s proportions are critical to having the ideal physique for dance. Apart from the aesthetic consideration, a well-proportioned body should endure the stresses and strains of the workload required of it with greater ease than one in which there is some contradiction.
There are numerous studies that reviewing dancers who is hoping to enter a training institute of higher learning at an elite level or is aspiring to be a professional, and a major conclusion is that in reality there is a ideal physique for a female classical dancer: she has to be slim, with a long neck, a shortest to medium length torso, long legs with complimentary long arms and high insteps.
What about the height? Do you have to be tall to be a ballerina?
Absolutely not! To name just few ballerinas, Misty Copeland is little over 160 cm, Maria Kochetkova of the San Francisco Ballet is even shorter with fewer than 150 cm, and the well known Romanian ballerina Alina Cojocaru is just little over 167 cm.
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The height requirements of dancers are really designated by the ballet companies hiring. Most ballet company’s average height for a female is approximately 167cm. However, in Europe some companies require females to be no taller than the traditional 165cm, while others have a minimum height of 173cm.
177cm is really stretching it for dancing pas de deux, because she need to have balance in dimensions with partners. There are not many roles for tall ballerinas, but there are some companies that requires for their lead female principal dancer a height of 184 cm.
Anyway being short can actually benefit your dancing in some ways, because shorter dances excel at petit allégro, small quick jumps, excel at turning, they are very good at quick clean footwork! But you can be tall and absolutely rock as a ballerina.
So being, because of height limits due to partnering as well as weight considerations for lifts, the average ballerina is considered by many specialist to be small and weighs between 40 to 50 kg. Of course as in everything, there are exceptions. Many taller, heavier ballet dancers have gone on to glorious careers.
Ballerina body’s proportions are critical! A well-proportioned body should endure easier the stresses and strains
Ballet has typically favored the body type of a girl who is thin, usually thinner than what is deemed to be healthy, with long, lean limbs, an extremely flat front side, and little to no curves throughout the body other than a small waistline.
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A classic ballerina body will ideally have very specific proportion, with long, slender arms and legs with a small head, long neck and a short torso. This body shape is considered optimal for creating lovely lines and expressive movements on stage. A ballerinas are expected to have a rather masculine but elegant shape with broad shoulders, small hips, small breasts and buttocks. The idea is to have the body create straight lines and smooth curves while dancing.
The height plays a significant role in determining a ballerina ideal weight. Most ballerinas are between about 160cm and 173cm tall. With this height range, weight is ideally anywhere between about 40 and 59 kg, and depends heavily on muscle and bone mass.
Both male and female ballet dancers are expected to have a very high shoulder-to-hip ratio, meaning that the shoulders should be wider than the hips. This ratio affects the structure and density of the skeleton, so has a bearing on your weight. This kind of build is valued more highly than being a specific weight.
The “ideal ballet body”! no career or hobby is worth risking your health for!
Ballet is strenuous and is extremely demanding on the body. As such, a ballerina will build up a considerable amount of muscle, especially in the legs and arms. Muscle is denser than fat, so a muscular ballerina may weigh a bit more. If you have been working seriously for many years as a dancer, you may weigh more.
The most important consideration when it comes to the ideal weight of a ballerina is whether your weight is healthy for you and your frame. The body needs certain nutrients, especially if it is expected to perform the rigorous exercise that is ballet dancing. If the body is not provided with these nutrients, it will eventually break as in the sad case of Heidi Guenther, a prima ballerina of the Boston Ballet, who died in 1997 from heart failure after being ordered to lose weight by her artistic director.
Weighing only 40 kg at her death, Heidi used laxatives and turned to binging and purging to reach what was considered an ideal weight for a ballerina.
