The Dark Side of Ballet Schools - Panorama investigation

Yes @SilverGlitterBaubles I went to boarding school for a time (non vocational) and it was really great. I can see, however, that in combination with this sort of training (some of the local dance schools can be bad enough - I'm sure we all know of someone, who knows someone, who has had a bad experience there), and the parents unable to monitor as they might if they were a day pupil somewhere, that it's not the ideal environment.

I agree that parents should be able to rely on what the schools say and yes other parents send their DCs to boarding schools at that age. However the combination of moving away from home and undertaking elite training in a competitive environment at such a crucial age when entering puberty with all that brings is a huge thing for a child. They are still so young and personally it would not be an environment that I would be comfortable with sending my DCs to live in.

... focus on elite training... ...high expectations...

That's what they go there for in the first place, and what the students are naturally entitled to receive. And anyone training somewhere like that would know that there are high expectations. Of course there are. What they don't expect is to be demoralised and belittled, and made to feel useless.

Even if you had no idea about the dark side of ballet schools, the idea of sending a 11/12 year old far away from home to boarding school with such focus on elite training and notoriety for strict teaching and high expectations would certainly be reason for serious concerns as a parent.

Though of course Ballet West has gone now, but I knew two families whose daughters had to find alternative places (to the BW places they had gained) when it suddenly closed that year. They had no idea what had been going on.

Oh yes, I said the caution was understandable.

Ballet West and BTUK of course.

@LHayday indeed. And just look at photos of the dancers in eg the Ballets Russes - they wouldn’t even get a second look at any schools now, they’d be laughed out of the place. Yet they premiered some of the greatest 20thc ballets in the repertoire.

I’m sure I’m saying what many people on here know - plenty of you may have been on the threads - but there was a long-running and very informative, though shocking, thread about all this on MN a few years ago, iirc. It disappeared and I couldn’t find it again. But it was eye-opening.

I would say parents are very informed of the dark side of voc training, especially the chance of staying on at on the school post year 9. The ballet world is small and we knew pretty much all the other children auditioning. Conversations were had.

We considered full time vocational training at 11 for my child. We visited one of the schools and were given a tour prior to, and during, an audition. I can honestly say I had no hint of a dark side. I've only since heard whispers (where they're not removed) from the various dance forums where discussion is heavily and cautiously moderated, possibly with good reason.

I don't think the people who featured on the programme had been aware of the problems until they occurred.

My DD got to the final 30 for a year 7 place at RBS a couple of years ago (thankfully she didn't get in and turned down places at other schools).

I would say parents are very informed of the dark side of voc training, especially the chance of staying on at on the school post year 9. The ballet world is small and we knew pretty much all the other children auditioning. Conversations were had.

There are very few options for children serious about a career in ballet (appreciate it is mad they have to decide at such a young age at all) which is why sadly so many are willing to take the chance, even knowing the risks.

We have a friend offered a WL place this year and hasn't taken it up (and apparently by no means not the only one) so maybe things are changing.

The other atrocity the programme failed to cover was how dancers are being pushed physically to further and further extremes with many now having to be on a par with gymnasts. The long-term effects on the bodies of these young people should be of great concern.

Agreed, the trend for insane numbers of hours of practice each week, with pressure to keep going through illness and injury or threats of losing their place or coveted solo spot. Also the trend for acro and gymnastics tricks especially in the dance competition world, has anyone looked at the long term effects of this kind of training has on young growing bodies?

Yes. She allegedly also said if people knew how physically cruel ballet was, no one would watch, only those who enjoy bullfighting . I don’t know if that’s true but it’s from a reliable source.

Prior to this, dancers like Moira Shearer, Pamela May and even the young Margot Fonteyn were never expected to hide or starve away their female bodies.

Didn't Margot Fonteyn once say something about how she wouldn't have made it beyond the corps de ballet today (today being late 80s possibly). Though she may have been talking of technique mainly.

Following on from the Panorama documentary on The Dark Side of Ballet Schools on Monday 11th September and its exposé of eating disorders and mental health issues prevalent among female ballet dancers, one can’t help but question why the industry has found itself in such a damning position.

Ballet dancers were not always thin. The fashion for stick thin ballerinas began in the Balanchine era in the 1960s and as the fashion industry became obsessed with Twiggy and models became thinner and thinner (with similar repercussions) so too did choreographers favour
leggy, androgynous dancers.

Prior to this, dancers like Moira Shearer, Pamela May and even the young Margot Fonteyn were never expected to hide or starve away their female bodies. One dreads to think what Lynn Seymour – possibly the only ballerina who made it to the top of her profession despite having a curvaceous body – went through in the ‘60s. It is worth noting no male dancers had a problem lifting any of these women, showing that this fashion for thin was a purely aesthetic preference, not a practical requirement.

Sixty years on, this trend for thin – oftendangerously thin – female ballet dancers –continues. It is debatable whether a young woman without “the correct physique” would be accepted into the Royal Ballet School today.

The other atrocity the programme failed to cover was how dancers are being pushed physically to further and further extremes with many now having to be on a par with gymnasts. The long-term effects on the bodies of these young people should be of great concern.

Ballet is about so much more than who can get their legs the highest and have the most pronounced arch and be the thinnest. Where is the choreographer brave enough to buck the trend and choose strong female dancers with female curves as the norm? Matthew Bourne can’t do it all.

And lastly, please can it be mandatory to educate parents about the dark side of these elite establishments before they send their children there? So many parents are ill informed and gullible. They need to be equipped with the correct information to prepare their offspring for the dangers and pitfalls alongside the joys and fulfilment of training.

Call me cynical but it could be about filling places. They recently held a fund raising event.

I think it should be mandatory to educate parents about the dark side of these elite establishments before they send their children there. So many parents are ill informed and gullible, possible swept along by the teacher’s understandable enthusiasm ,as it will bring prestige to their dance school if they have a child accepted into the Royal Ballet School. They need to be equipped with the correct information to prepare their offspring for the dangers and pitfalls alongside the joys and fulfilment of training.

If they are picking girls in Y7 according to "RBS body type" over other abilities then it would make sense that, once those girls get to Y10 and their bodies have changed, some of them are no longer "RBS body type" so get shown the door.

I was talking to my neighbour about this as her DD is very serious about ballet and knows some of the kids who have just started at vocational schools in Y7. I don't know if this is true but she said that most of the schools recruit (or whatever the word is) based on dance ability whereas RBS recruits based on body type and potential dance ability. So maybe there's more chance of them getting it wrong if they are basing decisions on estimated potential rather than current ability.

When I was young, I trained with RBS and yes, we were weighed every day. Anyone who gained weight, was not allowed potatoes with dinner. I really hoped things had improved, however there does need to be some control over fitness and the ability to dance on pointe and be lifted. There is no need to be cruel about it under any circumstance.

I will say though, the incredible discipline involved in ballet has served me well in life.

What I don’t understand about RBS though is why so few make it into the upper school and the company. It suggests either they’ve picked the wrong girls or the training isn’t good enough. It seems like SAB send much more of their teens at the school into the company. I can’t imagine how distressing it must be to have worked so hard from 11 to 14 and then be asked to leave for y10 when places at good schools must be hard to come by.

Full CDMT accreditation is for 16 plus schools only and involves a 2 day accreditation visit plus submission of paperwork.