I started smoking because all the girls in my ballet company did. They told me it kept the weight off. I'm not sure if it was that, the 15 hours of classes a week, the eating disorders we all clearly had, or a combination of all three. In any case, I quit ballet when I turned 17. I decided I'd rather have boobs and eat cheese than kill myself in order to possibly become a soloist.
I'm unfortunately still battling the cigarette thing, but I smoke like a pack a month so I'm probably okay.
Ballet is f-ed up. I saw a public tv thing about the damages ballet does ... they interviewed this one lady. Gorgeous, beautiful woman. Then they did a closeup on her feet when she took her slippers off. Ack! Bruised, gnarled hideous feet. Who's the sadist that invented ballet?
Louis XIV. But he didn't invent pointe shoes. That credit, it is rumored, goes to the father of the dancer Maria Taglioni, who choreographed a ballet to be danced en pointe especially for his daughter. The story goes that she had a gigantic nose, and he wished to draw the attention away, to her feet.
I wouldn't say all of ballet is f-ed up, no more than any other sport. It's very very VERY competitive, especially when you attend a dance school that feeds directly into a company, like I did. They're prepping you from day one (and in most cases, day one means age 5 or 6). Athletes do horrendous things to their bodies to compete with others.
I found my experience to be that of an art dominated by women, but ruled by misogynistic men. Very talented men (ahem, George Balanchine) but misogynistic nonetheless. I quit partly because my heart wasn't in it, and partly because I knew I'd never make it to principle dancer (very few do). I still love to do ballet from time to time, but in much less rigorous settings.
But enough of that, back to the cleanse. I want regular poop updates if you do this, Andy, especially if it resembles a double helix.
