- Joined
- Nov 10, 2009
I was reading an old book by Gelsey Kirland, tiny prima ballereina with NYCB and then ABT. SScathing about Balanchine. He told her not to eat. She was introduced to cocaine and retired in 1983. She eventually came back to teach in NYC and opened a ballet school in NYC in 2010 with her husband. Her students are the skinniest people. It seems so hypocritical after how she exposed the ballet world eating disorders and people like Balanchine, her "Misha" and decried the unhealthy aesthetic that was becoming the norm. Gelsey was way to thin. She looked like a child. She really did surgery, the whole bit when it was not even the norm in Hollywood.
Ballet, FS and gymnastics have many victims.
That's true, but I also think that being thin (for females) is important in ballet because of the male dancers who need to be able to lift dancers multiple times. They don't have the kind of leverage that male skaters get w/ speed, etc. on the ice.
For ladies single, it's something else because certain body types tend to do BETTER - rotate faster specifically. Then there's the height -- shorter = lower center of gravity & more stability. Mirai's latter body is not ideal in that she's thicker than she used to be and carries more weight in her bust/shoulders. This can be said for a lot of skaters who were basically destroyed by puberty. (BTW - I'm also of the opinion that skaters who actually learned proper technique tend to survive puberty much better than those who relied on their super skinny short body to land jumps.)
I'm convinced that if Tara Lipinski's hips were half an inch thicker, Michelle would've won the gold in Nagano.