Big Ballet Company goes BIG
Plus-Sized Ballerinas make a mark on the ballet community
Bringing a humorous outlook on how a woman should view her body, the Big Ballet Company struts their combined weight of over 2,000 pounds!
Russia is a country that breeds beautifully slender ballet dancers. Makhail Baryshnikov and Tamara Karsavina came from Russia and ravished the dancing world by storm through their numerous classical performances to music by Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Bach. The Kirov Russian Ballet School is a school, company and syllabus that many dancers of all age study and through this ballet school their dancing talents grow. Now comes another great Russian ballet company called the Big Ballet Company.
The traditional image of ballerinas has been those that are quite slim and remarkably elegant stature. While this image has been 'traditional', it has also led to much danger in the dance community when dancers resolve to anorexia or bulimia (please see Eating Disorders on Suite101.com for more information on the mater). What the Big Ballet Company has done is transformed this image of traditional ballet dancers into mockery, creating awareness to society that its okay to be larger than life (so to speak).
The seriousness of dance is loosely kept but most importantly the Big Ballet Company shows that dancing is fun and should be fun above all things, rather than creating a life and death situation over dance. While the dancers of the Big Ballet Company are not professional dancers and dance for a hobby, the message is serious - don't take yourself to seriously and do not be ashamed of who you are. Most of the dancers hold day jobs, including doctors, nurses and engineers.
Performing for the first time in the United Kingdom this February of 2007, the Big Ballet Company astounded the British audience. What fun this show is. What an absolute tonic says The Stage. The requirement of the dancers to be at least two hundred pounds makes it an out-of the box experience! The second half of the performance features slim male dancers from the Fighting Club dance company, poking more fun at the voluptuous ballerinas while still keeping the humour and good-nature fun in the ballet.
Training three times a week, these dancers keep themselves young and healthy through the absence of body image problems and their welcoming attitudes and nature towards their audience's reactions and laughter. These woman practice just as hard as true professional ballerinas to keep their bodies limber and strong.
Changing the public perception of larger people has always been a challenge, especially in the dancing world. It seems that the stigma of being too big to be a dancer has deterred many talented dancers away from the profession. But the ballerinas from the Big Ballet Company will surely change that opinion and will hopefully inspire those valid, yet larger, dancers to strive for their dreams.
To see if these big ballerinas are coming to your neck of the woods, please visit them at the Big Ballet Company.
