As a kid, I always wanted to be a dancer. (I still feel in my heart of hearts I can accomplish this dream.) So, this morning hearing about the New York City ballerina dancer being criticized by her weight/size was in such poor taste for The New York Times's (NYTimes's) critic. Although I am not surprised, its hard to wrap my head around the misogynistic viewpoints on women and body weight interceding in our society.
Nothing about her screams that she has eaten "one to many sugar plums" as he describes. . . nothing. He doesn't give you any critical analysis of her dancing or her performance. In the article, he was talking about the opening night performance of the New York City Ballet. In his defense, he was pretty critical about every aspect of the performance but it was more about timing and flow of the performance. Until he got to Jennifer. Jennifer, the principal dancer for the famous Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, is a 38-year old woman who has danced professionally since she was 16 years old. I wonder what was he thinking in criticizing her body. If he expected a 38-year old to have a body of a 16-year old, then someone must give him a lesson on the anatomy and human physicology of women. Although Jennifer is 38, trust me when I tell you, her body is still as elegant as any dancer 20 years her junior. With 38 years of age comes an understanding of her body, its movement and how to use it as a vehicle of expression than any 16 or 18 year old knows or even understands. However, the critic didn't really focus on that. He focused on her suppose size. . Looking at her in the still pictures of the performance and in the interview on the Today Show, Jennifer is a nice slender size and takes this NYTimes critic words with a grain of salt.
In her interview (which is posted below), she talks about her eating disorder as a young dancer and how as a woman she's more comfortable with her body and her curves. I admire Jennifer for not being hostile with this critic's words. She had plenty of advocates who were dismayed that The New York Times hasn't publicly chastised this writer about not focusing on the performance/dance that he was critiquing. Nevertheless, Jennifer rose above and use this opportunity as a lesson about being true to yourself, trusting yourself and your talent and not letting anyone make you feel bad about your size.
Jennifer showed the true meaning of a ballerina's grace and a woman who knows her worth. I'm taking a page from Jennifer about flying above the haters but more importantly, becoming comfortable with yourself on the inside and out to not let stumbling blocks deter you from your goals and purpose.
If you want to read the article the NYTimes critic wrote: Timeless Alchemy, Even When No One is Dancing
The news report about Jennifer from the Today Show:
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