The Dark Side of Ballet Schools - Panorama investigation

[taxi4ballet]

Panorama programme on BBC1 this evening at 8pm, also available on i-player. An investigation into eating disorders and mental health issues suffered by young dancers in full-time ballet training, including the Royal Ballet School.

This really is required watching for anyone whose dc is interested in becoming a professional dancer - and not just ballet either. This sort of thing happens in other performing arts establishments too, although those are not covered by this programme.

It is not just ballet, the dance schools, insane world of dance competitions and the current trend for young dancers to be brand ambassadors and insta influencers needs to change. Not all of it is bad but some of it is really not healthy. Parents are advocates for their children first and foremost. They need to look at these opportunities and decide who really benefits here, is this what my child needs and not be blinded and sucked into the whole dance/ stage mom world.

Was it her autobiography you read? A beautiful, talented dancer but developed an ED and had plastic surgery too, if I recall correctly.

Same

How many parents are the ones pushing the kids more than the kids want it?

I will certainly be researching more. Thank you, we hadn’t considered or looked at Rambert so will look into that also.

Though I think I would have doubled checked about BT first as they’re not allowed to be discussed at all in some other places as you probably know (along with Ballet West) so I did wonder why not.

Well that’s reassuring to know. I hadn’t looked to see what the current requirements were.

Very, very very few at vocational level. Pushy parents are much more likely to be found in local dance schools, especially those who do comps. As a parent you are pretty much kept out of the vocational school selection process and once they are in held very much at arms length. I think I only met 2 children out of hundreds who had been pushed into it by a parent. They tend to only select children who really, really want it.

My attitude to dd was, well, OK we will let you try but if at any time you feel it isn't working out, tell us and that's OK, it won't be seen as a failure. Our only stipulation was no changing schools between year 10-12 because of GCSE's.

Though I think I would have doubled checked about BT first as they’re not allowed to be discussed at all in some other places as you probably know (along with Ballet West) so I did wonder why not.

They have a tendency to threaten legal action if anyone makes any post that is even slightly critical. Make of that what you will.

Indeed. As Comefromaway says, if a business won’t allow any negative posts to be made about it without threatening legal action, I would wonder what they might be hiding.

Definitely look at Rambert, as well as Tring Park now that the former director of dance has gone, especially if your child is at all academic.

The problem with Tring is that they have less funding available than most of the other schools so unless you can afford to pay fees it isn't an option for many.

There are a lot, but it doesn't matter how hard you push, if your child isn't what the schools are looking for, they won't get in.
To give you an idea of how hard it is, well over a thousand talented 10-year-old girls audition for the Royal Ballet School every year, and they accept around twelve into Y7.

There is more at 16+ when they switch from MDS to Dada funding.

Name changed as I'm partly quoting and want to remain anonymous.

A couple of years ago DS's dance teacher (ex professional who attended boarding school) said these vocational dance schools, though she was speaking of RB, are spoilt for choice when auditioning at 10/11, and the real difficulty is when they reach 16 having been through puberty and their bodies have changed, so why audition for full time training at 10/11.

An interesting point that has been made is that there is no regulatory body for ballet as there is for sports. Yes the boarding schools will be checked by Ofsted and there are various dance boards but that's not the same. Though I once reported some mentally and emotionally abusive behaviour in a local school to one of the dance boards (IDTA) and didn't even receive a response, so I wouldn't say that was fit for purpose.

I hope something changes now after the Panorama debate.

You're right @mrsmcvv and on the whole it is better to wait until after GCSE's. It isn't always an easy decision though, as many dancers don't have access to enough advanced-level training locally.

I forgot - there is a regulatory body which used to be called CDET (council for dance education & training) which is now known as The Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre. They say they offer accreditation to schools, but I don't know what that entails, or how much real power they have, if any.

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

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.

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.

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.

As much as that? 🙄🤔

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.

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

The majority of parents of 11-year-old sending their children to these places will not have had any access to information or anyone who can tell them about the dark side until now. Some schools routinely threaten legal action against forums which allow critical posts. It isn't quite so easy for them to gag the BBC.

There are government-funded places available for qualifying UK students, however costs now outstrip funding by some margin. There have also always been scholarships and bursaries funded by wealthy patrons, often used to pay for the training of international students. Very few of the students at RBS actually pay to train there. Other schools have their own funding arrangements.

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.

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.