The effects of ballet on dancers’ health is a topic that has been and continues to be debated. There is still no answer as to whether or not the negative effects like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and injuries outweigh the positives like motivation, discipline, pleasure, and a more developed brain. Conflicting arguments exist. Some people such as Tom Jacobs, a writer with Pacific Standard Magazine, say that the mental impacts of ballet include anxiety and depression while others like Judith Layne Hanna, an Affiliate Senior Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland, argue that dance acts as a stress reliever. Dance Movement Therapists like Bonnie Meekums and Helene Lefco have exhibited how dance is used as a reliable form of psychological therapy. Aside from the mental health aspect of dancing, the physical effects also produce many concerns. The main physical effects of concern include detrimental injuries from pushing the body to its limits. Injuries are common in all dancers. Professional dancers are often afraid to share their injuries with artistic directors because they fear not being cast in a production or not being able to dance. This usually makes dancers continue dancing until they can no longer tolerate the pain. This usually does even more damage to their bodies than if they had addressed the problem as soon as it had arisen. Although injuries are known to be just something that come with the territory of practicing ballet as a profession or a hobby, there are ways that dancers and teachers can address pain and be smart about dance and teaching practices to prevent overuse injuries. There is a lot of concern about how dance instructors’ teaching methods play a role in the mental and physical health of dancers. Many sources exist to educate dance professors and teachers everywhere about how to best motivate, inspire, and protect their dancers while training and performing. The positives of practicing ballet, like discipline and self-expression, are so great that it is essential for teachers and instructors to focus on minimizing the negative effects as much as possible by using the resources and research available and changing their teaching practices. 

These days, there is more emphasis on mental health than ever before. The importance of strong mental health has been emphasized through studies and research. Ballet has been among some of the targeted contributors to poor mental health. Jacobs says that ballet dancers are very likely to suppress their negative emotions due to the nature of their training (Jacobs). Dancers are three times more likely to have an eating disorder than the average person according to a 2014 meta study (Jacobs). Dancers spend hours every day practicing in front of a mirror and critiquing their every flaw. The competitive nature of ballet and the pressure dancers may feel that they are under to obtain a certain body type can take a toll on their mental health. And while it is true that “Ballet does prefer a certain body type although nature and nurture play roles in the training of a professional ballet dancers through the combination of ‘natural selection’ and creating of the body through the training itself”, more and more studios and companies are getting away from putting emphasis on the traditional ‘ballet body’ and focusing more on accepting all body types (Bales and Nettl-Fiol 77). Dance is revolutionizing and turning into something that everyone can do. It has also been proven “as a means to help us cope with stress that can motivate or interfere with learning or life” (Hanna x). Ballet as a form of movement and self-expression functions as an incredible outlet for many people coping with stress or anxiety. Dance is even used as a form of therapy for many mentally ill patients (Meekums). It works to “spark new brain cells” and activate important and different parts of the brain (Hanna). The practice of ballet also instills self-discipline and responsibility. The pleasure that dancers get from partaking in the practice of ballet is also a major contributor to the positive mental effects of ballet. In the article “In Defence of Ballet: Women, Agency and the Philosophy of Pleasure”, pleasure is defined and sectioned off into four main types in which evidence is provided to relate ballet to all of them. Research involving adult women aged 18-67 who practice ballet as a leisure activity showed that they find pleasure in the challenge and discipline of ballet (Kolb and Kalogerpoulou 115). 

In addition to creating mental health concerns, ballet can also take a major toll on one’s body. The risk of eating disorders is not only concerning on a mental health aspect, but also on the physical health side. “Excessive leanness and frequent chronic restriction of caloric intake” is a problem often seen in ballet dancers (Kolb and Kalogerpoulou 109). When malnourished, it is difficult for a dancer to take part in ballet in a healthy and productive manner. This raises many other health concerns as well. More than just eating disorders impact the physical health of a dancer though. Injuries are an extremely common occurrence at any level of ballet practice. “Physical pain is part of the daily life of dancers, and is considered an inevitable aspect of the profession” (Aalten 61). Ballet is not natural. It requires training one’s body to do the unnatural and make it look effortless. Toes were not built to stand on and hips were not meant to rotate out 180 degrees, yet these are two things worked towards in ballet. It hurts to force one’s body to do things that it wasn’t made to do, but to most dancers, the pain is worth it. Alexandra Kolb and Sophia Kalogeropoulou argue in their article that not all pain is bad pain and that “pleasure and pain are not necessarily mutually exclusive” (Kolb and Kalogeropoulou 111). Research has shown dancers to have a very high level of pain tolerance (Aalten 62). They often push through injuries because they are “always so desperate not to miss any part of their careers” (Aalten 61). If a professional dancer is injured and physically cannot perform, they risk losing pay, valuable dancing experience, and being overlooked by an artistic director for roles in future productions. Most dancers think of injuries as something standing in their way of doing their passion. They push through the pain not to intentionally harm their bodies, but because they love to dance so much they don’t want to stop. While this is not healthy, it is understandable. People do not like to be told they cannot do what they love and going to the doctor for an injury puts dancers at risk for not being able to do what they love anymore. 

If there are all these problems and concerns with ballet, and it is known that dancers don’t usually stop unless they really have to, the only solution is to fix the problems and minimize the concerns. This must begin at the root of the problems: in the studio. Dancers learn at a young age from their teachers what is expected of them in class and also in the professional world if they choose to continue on that path. Ballet teachers serve as mentors, critics, and motivators for their students. There are many fantastic ballet teachers in the world that inspire and motivate their students to perform well and in a healthy way, but there are also many bad ones that approach ballet in a way that does no service to their students and instead only harms them. Educating dancers in injury prevention and proper technique is a job that teachers should never overlook. This is an important concept and discussion that should be introduced in the studio starting at a young age. A multitude of resources exist to supplement ballet teachers’ knowledge and help them improve their teaching methods. Books such as “Psychology of Dance” and “The Dancer’s Book of Health” are geared towards both teachers and dancers. They can serve as great resources to guide a healthy practice of ballet along with many other scholarly articles and research that are out there. Mentioned in these books are things like “making rest a regular part of the performance season” and “planning a responsible performance schedule that allows dancers to recover from performance series” (Taylor and Taylor 109). Doing these two things as well as other things mentioned in the books will greatly benefit dancers’ mental and physical well-being. Placing emphasis on “preliminary conditioning and flexibility exercises promote performance, adapt the body physiologically to the impending activity, and help to prevent injury” (Vincent 30). Promoting a positive and healthy body image is also an important job of ballet teachers. Dance should be for everyone. It should be practiced in a safe and non-harmful way so that participants will only reap the benefits and not experience all the negative effects that can come along with ballet. Changing teachings practices to instill a new mindset in dancing and acknowledge the body’s limitations should solve many of the mental and physical health problems that currently exist in the ballet world today. 

The criticism that ballet has faced has brought to light many of the problems with current teaching methods and focuses. These must be addressed before any improvement will be seen in the number of dancers who suffer from eating disorders, injuries, and more. Since the criticisms of this art form have been so heavily focused on, many people are not even aware of all the good that comes from the performing art of dance. The positive aspects of ballet like pleasure, physical fitness, stress relief, and working the brain in different ways are too great to be overlooked and must be preserved. If teachers begin to focus more on inspiring and motivating their dancers to stay healthy and teaching them the proper technique to do so, the ballet world could overcome the criticism it is facing and turn into something even more beautiful than it already is. By targeting teachers and dancers in a studio setting and enriching their education to protect dancers’ minds and bodies, ballet could be seen in a much more positive light by many people. More opportunities could also be given to people to partake in dance and build a strong physique as well as enhance their self-discipline and responsibility skills. Completely eradicating all injuries and mental health problems from the ballet world is not possible, but it is extremely important for dancers, teachers, artistic directors, and other contributors of ballet to work towards the goal of minimizing the negative effects of ballet practice. This will ensure that many generations of artists are able to pursue their passion, stay healthy, and continue to constantly inspire others through their movement. 
