The first piece of literature I have chosen to review is an article titled Confessions of a Hypocrite by Pat Catterson. I chose this piece because it looks into how choreographers, dancers and dance companies view dancers’ bodies and is therefore extremely relevant to my line of inquiry. The piece was written for Attitude – the dancer’s magazine and was published by Brooklyn, N. Y.: Dance Giant Steps, Inc. which shows it is aimed at dance professionals predominantly in the USA. It featured in the spring 2010 edition of the magazine which means it is only a year old. The recentness of this article make Catterson’s opinions relevant to the dance industry as it is today, however, she draws on experiences from her entire career in choreography which dates back to the 1970’s.
Catterson is a renowned dancer, teacher and choreographer which is significant as her opinions in this article stem from her own experiences in the industry. She also refers to another article named ‘Funny, You Don’t Look Dancerish’ which was published in the New York Times Arts and Leisure section on May 20th 2007 and was written by Claudia La Rocco. Catterson’s bias in this piece shifts depending on whether she is discussing the topic from a professional or a personal stand point, the title of the article relates to this.
Catterson mentions an occasion, documented in La Rocco’s article, where dancers have been put under scrutiny for the way they look. A choreographer, Larry Keigwin fires a ‘larger’ dancer, Hillary Clark after feeling pressured by the press and the public. To this Catterson makes the comment,
“…one does immediately notice her larger girth, but…., once she starts dancing, you see only her gifts, or should.”
She is admitting here that she thought the dancer was large, yet she could still appreciate her talents. However, the last sentence is still tinged with doubt, “or should”, suggests that herself or others may still find it difficult to appreciate Clark as a dancer because of her size. It also shows how a choreographer such as Catterson immediately casts a judgemental eye over the size of the dancers on stage before the performance even begins.
Catterson has a lot of experience working in dance departments in colleges in the US UK
“Often to my dismay, too much is said about the bodies’ suitability or unsuitability for training and a career, and not enough about the quality of the student’s dancing itself”
This quote shows that she believes it is wrong that the focus is often on a dancer’s body rather than on their talents. This topic of looks versus talent is one that seems to often be a talking point amongst dancers in my experience. Catterson goes on to reveal how ‘code words’ are used to get a point about a dancer’s size across.
‘…“You need to work on tone” means the student is considered fat.’
Here, she is revealing how she believes teachers are not entirely honest when talking to students about their weight or size. However, this is only her opinion and cannot be taken as fact. On occasion perhaps a teacher merely wants to tell a dancer to tone up as toning and losing weight are two very different things.
Catterson then goes on to try and justify why there is this need for professional dancers to be thin. At first she questions whether it is the homosexual man’s influence on the art and “alleged hatred or jealousy for all things feminine” that has made it this way.
“For sure, anorexia and bulimia are common in both the fashion industry and dance, where, in terms of leadership positions, gay men dominate.”
This is an interesting opinion and one that may relate to how homosexual men feel about their own attractiveness. I read an article from Autumn 1998 in Advocate’s Forum Vol. 5 No.1 by Laurel Gideon titled Body Image: Heterosexual Females and Gay Males. In this article Gideon is looking into the similarities between gay men and straight women with regard to body image and eating disorders.
“Gay men, similar to heterosexual women, experience a sense of self that is largely dependent on physical attractiveness. It appears that cultural pressures to achieve a certain standard of physical attractiveness have not only impacted women, but have also impeded gay men's ability to maintain a positive body image. Like women, gay men experience extreme pressure to be slim and youthful.” (Gideon 1998)
If there is truth in Catterson’s opinion that homosexual men in the dance industry have somewhat created the pressure of female dancers to be thin perhaps part of the reason could be the notion that physical attractiveness is extremely important in gay culture.
However, Catterson’s next thought on why there is so much pressure on dancers to be a certain size is about preference by heterosexual men.
“Or does it stem from the “male gaze” in general, the straight man’s desires for the prepubescent girl, the “Lolita”. “
It is interesting that her opinions are so swayed towards what she thinks men want to see, gay or straight. The dance industry is full of talented women who choreograph and cast shows, Catterson being one of them. Yet she still links the attractiveness of dancers back to the opinions of the opposite sex.
The next part of the article is even about a female dance professor’s negative opinion on a talented student’s body. Catterson quotes her colleague as saying,
“If I had a daughter who ended up looking like that, I’d kill myself.”
Catterson clearly put this quote in for dramatic effect and it worked. This is the line which stayed with me the most from the article and I am sure other people reading it would feel the same. The idea that anybody could be so cruel about somebody looks is hard to comprehend even in an industry where we constantly feel judged on our looks. Even Catterson’s following description of the dance student is hard to read,
“…completely atypical, heavier than most and oddly proportioned dance body, but she could really move!”
Catterson believes “as a choreographer she is more accepting of different body types than most” yet this description shows she really dissected all the features that are ‘wrong’ in this dancer. She is trying to prove that if a dancer has talent then she can look beyond their physical appearance yet it is still a wall she has to push through. To me it seems she still judges their appearance before she compliments their skills. Also, because we cannot see the dancers she is writing about we must take her word that they are not dancer-esque in their appearance. Perhaps if I were to see this girl I would not think the same things she does about her body.
Next, she questions if and how dance professors should approach students if they believe they should lose weight in order to get work. As “a recovered victim…of twenty five years of eating disorders” she knows that she needs to be cautious when approaching the subject of weight. She comments on how she told a “very talented, but heavy senior” to lose a few pounds in order to help her get work. Again she is highlighting her weight before her skills. However, I realise this could purely be for the purpose of the article. The student did not want to listen and when Catterson saw her in a production she commented that while her student was at the back,
“A slim pretty girl, and not the dancer my UCLA student was, had the main role”
This is certainly the theme of the article. I f you are talented but ‘heavy’ expect a hard time in the dance industry. Yet, if you are less talented but ‘attractive’ you will have no problem getting work. Catterson does not believe that this is right, in fact, in reference to the UCLA student not getting the recognition she deserved in the production she comments that,
“It was sad to see”
However, I feel that Catterson may have used this example to show that she was right to tell the student to lose weight and had she of listened then perhaps she would have been the star of the production. There is no congratulations coming from Catterson for this girl for getting dance work despite her size, even if it was not the main role, she still defied the stereotype.
Another part of this article which I found very interesting with regard to my inquiry is how Catterson writes about an “informal survey” she carried out in the dressing room at some dance studios she was working at. Her question was whether professors in dance departments should tell dancers if they think they need to lose weight? And her follow up question was whether they had every considered themselves heavy? The dancers who gave their opinions ranged in age from people in their 20’s to people in their 50’s. Their opinions ranged, some dancers thought it is right to tell a dance student to lose weight because they are training them and therefore it is their responsibility to advise them on every part of getting employment. Other dancers claimed that telling a dancer to lose weight is not good because unless they are delusional they know they have to make the choice. One dancer claimed that,
“You need to be at the weight necessary for your body to be healthy enough to dance optimally. Period”
As part of this module preparing myself for my inquiry I have looked into articles and literature to do with nutrition. This is an important part of dancer’s health especially when dancers are always being encouraged to be thin. Catterson does not really broach the subject of diet in this article. I think that this dancer’s comment about needing to be a good weight in order to dance to your full ability is very interesting and it is an opinion she and I share. In the article Fuel For Performance by Nancy Wozny August – September 2010. The author quotes Pennsylvania Ballet’s Lauren Fadeley as saying,
"If I get lax with my nutrition, it's harder for me to stay on top of my game, I just don't have the stamina to get through the day and it shows in my dancing."
Nutrition is very important for dancers but as I have said Catterson does not go into nutrition in her article and I think that it is important that if a professor advises a dancer to lose weight they should give them nutritional advice along with it.
When looking into whether male dancers get told to lose weight, Catterson found out that one choreographer who she deemed to be “in his hay day, a larger build than most” told a male dancer to lose weight. She wonders whether this is an example of “passing on the damage of one’s own victimization”. Which is what I was wondering about her comments about gay men’s attitudes towards female dancer’s bodies.
Because the opinions given in the dressing room vary and come from dancers who are all different ages I think it is a good representation of the opinions dancers have as a whole however, as this survey was informal and is just based on her asking a couple of questions we must take these opinions lightly. There are no facts here.
Catterson confesses,
“For all my outrage I see my own hypocrisy”
She confesses of times where she has not employed dancers because they would not look right with the rest of the cast and that sometimes uniformity can make a production. However, I have seen hypocrisy in this article from the very start. She is happy to say that she often looks past a dancers physique to their talents but if she were truly employing dancers for their skills there would be nothing to look past to in the first place. This size barrier would not even exist.
This article was written by Catterson to look into her own opinions and the opinions of others about a topic which is very common in the dance industry. The opinions she has are based on experiences she has had in this field. The article is supposed to make dancers think about the topic yet it is not based on heavy research so it should not be taken as fact. It is presented as an entertaining article which is a good read for dancers who know how hard the business can be. The “mini-survey” Catterson carried out should not be read factually. It is informal and does not seem to have been approached with a particular view of ethics or with a view of really finding out the truth. She just wanted to find out other dancers opinions on the subject. Her argument that dancers should be seen purely for their talent is not particularly well conceived because it seems although she would like it to be this way she even finds it hard to look beyond size from time to time. This I found right from the beginning of the article long before she confessed to being a hypocrite.
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