What could ballet stores offer a serious student that would help her/him work hard and develop a healthy perspective? Healthy eating, weight loss or gain, and strength building all contribute to a good dance technique. Getting exactly the right fit in pointe shoes and ballet wear, is important too. Above all, information.

Some students with a genetic predisposition to an eating disorder or a tendency to perfectionism will choose ballet to fullfill the attraction to a type of behaviour. Unhealthy behaviour is not necessarily built in to the field of ballet, although some studios or individual teachers may contribute to an atmosphere of excess when it comes to weight loss or obsessive practise over details that take years to fine tune. Fortunately, there is more awareness now about eating disorders and neurotic perfectionism. If it’s not a family behaviour, parents will notice. Anorexia results in hospitalization to ensure survival, followed by years or life long therapy.

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