Comments on: The Big Ballet

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:19:02 +0000

Oh my, this not only made my day, this made my entire month! Year, even!!!!
I’m 13 years old and overweight, especially by dancing standards.
I used to dance when I was younger, but I quit when I was ten because, ever since I was little, I was always the biggest one in the class.
Despite quitting, I never lost my love for ballet and continued dancing on my own time. I saved up for months for new pointe shoes but when I got to the store, I walked in and ran right out. I seemed like a fish out of water, a mammoth shopping amongst twigs.
But this article REALLY inspired me: I start classes in a month.
And I’m going for those shoes tomorrow =3

By: maya

maya — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:43:48 +0000

thank you so much (:
i’m an overweight girl, i’ve taken dance for 7 years now. i was about to quit this year but now im not.
im going to reach my dream of going on pointe (;
thank you~

By: Emerald

Emerald — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 15:59:06 +0000

I want to state here for the record that apparently, dancers can be just as stupid as other stupid people.

You want the really stupid thing, littlem? The teacher who did that to me and the other fat girl, was herself fat. We were taught by two sisters, a fat one who instructed us while her very thin sister demonstrated the actual steps, but the fatter one was the older of the two, and she was in charge.

The sad thing was, they lived not far from me and I’d always really liked them up till that point. And I told them I was leaving because school exams didn’t leave me time to dance – I never told them the real reason.

By: Mouse

Mouse — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:18:23 +0000

On the guy thing, I’m thinking (and it’s just a guess as I have no experience here) young boys often get teased about taking ballet (instead of “society approved” martial arts, football etc.) so already you have a smaller ratio of guys-to-girls, then factor in a non-slim boy wanting to do ballet; the teasing would be twice as bad.

By: littlem

littlem — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:42:13 +0000

“I wish I’d seen this when I was a little fat girl taking ballet class and feeling like I was all wrong.”

Not just even feeling all wrong, but being TOLD by my ballet instructor that I was.

(A pox on him forever — and Angie and Emerald’s teachers too. I want to state here for the record that apparently, dancers can be just as stupid as other stupid people. I think when I was younger and innocent that I believed that being creative was pro facie evidence that people were not stupid. *Bops self in head for stupid assumption*)

I would have kept going — and I might even have developed into a decent dancer, because I started lessons at 9 and was accepted into a modern and jazz troupe in college.

I had seen some of the pictures, but I didn’t see this one where the ballerina is even on toe (which is supposed to be just *anathema maranatha* if you’re an “overweight” dancer — never mind that it doesn’t matter if you’re 85 pounds, if you’re en pointe doing 2 rehearsals and 3 classes daily and 5 performances weekly for, like, a year, your feet ARE going to bunion and bleed at some point).

“Also, it bothers me that the men that dance with them are all thin-why is that?”

I thought that was a little odd too, but it’s less odd if the ballerinas are also lifting their escorts.

Plus, as any ballet student knows, it’s *say it with me* harder to find male dancers, so the gentlemen who are proficient are probably let in when they audition no matter what they look like. (Hee hee hee hee …)

By: cathy

cathy — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:08:13 +0000

So not to get flamed, but I am curious how this is much different than the men who we all discussed earlier. It is a group of overweight people dancing and the focus is that they are all large and having fun. Also, it bothers me that the men that dance with them are all thin-why is that?

By: msruth

msruth — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:04:41 +0000

I think one of the best things about them is I first found out about them when they performed on a children’s show called ‘Blue Peter’ that I was watching with my younger cousins. So, apart from just generally being gorgeous, kids nationwide got to see you can still be beautiful and graceful even if you aren’t super slim.

By: QuatrainHarpy

QuatrainHarpy — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:38:10 +0000

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS!

It has absolutely made my day! I adored doing tap and ballet classes when I was a kid, but then felt too fat for it when I became a pre-teen. Now I really regret giving up on it!

All of those pictures were so beautiful…I’d love to see them perform!

By: Katharine

Katharine — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:20:17 +0000

Also of note: “what 200 pounds looks like.” These beautiful dancers are a BMI-project microcosm right there, with their curvy waists and shapely legs.

I LOVE the pictures of them tossing their hot boy-toys around, and the boys look very happy with their lot.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:41:26 +0000

That’s pretty awesome. Now if only more professional female athletes could be heavy-set.