Although more people are getting educated about it now, there is still a certain stigma that comes with being a ballet dancer. Society immediately associates the word “skinny” to all ballerinas. We are athletes also. And yes, while we may be seen as long and lean we are also powerful and strong.
I grew up hiking, running, swimming and skiing during the summer and winter months. (I was cross training before I even knew it.) Even though I wasn’t officially on a team I also played soccer and basketball at school, and I was usually the first girl to be chosen for a team. So I was always very fit and active growing up. I think this helped me tremendously once I began doing ballet more seriously at the age of ten. I was able to run variations thoroughly because I had good stamina, I was coordinated so I could pick up steps quite quickly and I had excellent energy because I was fed very healthy foods by my family.
I had long limbs and lean muscle, but a lot of that started to change when I was about 15. Queue the next five years of body criticizing.
Fitness was something I got into a lot more after that knowing that I would have to try harder to maintain the figure I had. I would spend most evenings at the gym on top of the ballet classes I already had during the day. Some days I didn’t know how I managed to exert that much physical energy without being extremely exhausted the next day. There were times when I was worried about getting injured that way, but I couldn’t afford not going to the gym knowing that my circumstances were different from everybody else. Luckily I never did hurt myself that way. To me that would have been detrimental because I didn’t have the luxury of skipping a workout or eating an “unhealthy” meal because I hadn’t been blessed with a typical ballet body.
There definitely have been moments of me staring at myself in the mirror wondering why I didn’t look a certain way for the desired physique of my art form but through all of this I have never once said that I hated my body. I could never do that to myself. When it comes down to the things my body does for me, I am grateful. I don’t think we thank our bodies enough. Especially as ballet dancers, we just look at our feet and ask why they don’t bend enough. We look at our knees and ask why they don’t straighten enough. We look at our hips and ask why they aren’t flexible enough. Instead, if we look at that the things they do for us, we can be amazed.
We run, pirouette and jump on a daily basis working our bodies to the limits. We sweat, we cry and we even bleed. We are some of the toughest athletes out there, and I think we should be giving our bodies more credit for that.
Even for people who don’t dance. Be thankful for your sturdy legs that carry you from place to place everyday. Be thankful of the strong arms that extend towards your family and friends. If we look at our bodies in a different way we will value them much more.
To some people what I was doing in ballet would look like a nightmare. Why would I put myself through this? Well, it’s because I never thought of it as a sacrifice or an annoying routine I had to force myself to do. I actually enjoyed it because I knew I was making myself stronger and I was working hard for something I really wanted. I’ve seen how far I’ve come and just how far I will go. I’ve learned now that although my body may not have been made for dancing, I can appreciate what I was born with and make it work.
I love what I do, and yes while it is incredibly tough at times. I am still striving to train for the body I want because I know its there. I’m working on it everyday, physically and mentally. I will never deem myself unworthy just because I don’t look the way some people naturally do.
The brain is the strongest muscles in your body but it can also be the weakest. We must strengthen it with positive thoughts, good intentions and genuine gestures towards our bodies.
Nicole Prefontaine, Ballet Dancer.
Any individuals in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com