Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 7/24/2007

Question
I'm doing a school project on ballet at a professional level. one of the things i need to have is the ideal diet for a professional ballet dancer and the difference between ballet, jazz, ballroom, Latin and hip hop dancers in terms of energy requirements, body type, flexibility and strength. i really would appreciate as much information as you could give me. thanks

Answer
Hi Bryony. I have performed some ballet, jazz and modern dance, but not  hip-hop nor Latin and ballroom. I'll answer you as completely as I can.

Ballet and jazz require the most flexibility, ballet, jazz and modern require the most endurance, and from what I can see from watching, hip-hop requires a lot of endurance but the least flexibility. The latter depends of course on the choreographer, and the look he/she wants.

Latin and/or ballroom, traditionally, has not required any of the physical requirements of ballet. In recent years, I have been disappointed to see professional ballet couples competing and taking the prizes in Latin contests. It really isn't fair. Just my opinion. In Latin dancing it is the knowledge of the style, and presentation that matters.

Ballet is traditionally the most particular art form for physique. Choreographers mostly prefer the long lean look, and they prefer women to be very narrow in the hips. Skinny actually. Men can be more muscular, but still the longer slender ones get cast as the princes. Long necks, short waists and long legs are preferred in ballet, even though the traditional ballets were all choreographed on much stockier dancers. Fashions change.

Highly arched feet are also preferred in ballet, even though lesser arches get stronger earlier in training. Flexible ankles to give a strong curve are also the fashion.

In the early days of modern dance, such as in the early Martha Graham days, those dancers did not need to look like ballet dancers, the priority was the presentation of her peculiar movements that evolved into a technique. However, by the early 1970's, ballet dancers were getting into modern dance companies and the seduction of the longer leaner look and balletic flexibility influenced the modern choreographers. So much for the purity, etc.



Dancers in a professional company usually rehearse 8 hours a day. When performing they may do eight performances a week. The principal dancer roles will be less frequent and they are more demanding.

Except in the larger companies, many dancers rehearse eight hours a day, or perform, and maintain an outside work schedule as well. Just imagine where their stamina is at!

Dancers will try to eat lean proteins, with lots of vegetables and salads. They will often use high-content protein powders with vitamins and minerals as snacks. Most will avoid grains because of the high carbohydrate content. However, dancing is also the arena for eating disorders, and some dancers will get obsessive and be thin from losing their muscle mass, bingeing and purging or just starving themselves. But that subject, and drug use, is another project! Desperation and lack of education may lead some people down that path.

Constant hydration is also a factor. Loss of fluid can cause muscle cramps.

Vitamin deficiencies such as calcium and magnesium can also cause muscle cramps, poor sleep, and constant pain. B Complex deficiencies can lead to nervousness and stress disorders. Smart dancers take natural vitamin supplements. Especially since dancers tend to avoid grains, which have a high content of B vitamins, B Complex deficiency is common. Thus the "over-sensitive artist" syndrome.

The competitive nature of dancing also leads to stress. A lot of dancers use meditation or visualization techniques to learn to relax both physically and mentally.

While I am less familiar with Latin, ballroom and hip-hop dancers, I know they have the same long, gruelling hours of rehearsals. If they are healthy, they will be eating much the same diet as ballet, jazz and modern dancers.

I hope this helps Bryony.

Cheers, Dianne



A brief follow up - I've recommended to almost everyone to read my articles and blog entries at http://www.theballetstore.com You have to create a user name to log in to see all the blog entries - your privacy is safe! I really apologize that I didn't tell you this - I'm not a technical person!