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Great directors of ballet have always been intrinsically involved in the costumes of their dancers. Balanchine was no exception. Diaghilev was constantly involved with his costumers. Anyone involved in costuming any dance, be they dance teachers from a recital in the smallest of towns, to the great Balanchine, are interested in dance costuming. Dancers of all ages are interested in costuming and parents responsible for those dancers are interested in costuming. The demographics of dance indicate those participating in dance and in the dance audience is increasing.

Journal articles which identify and track this audience are identified below. These articles indicate adolescent participation in dance is progressively increasing and explain the reasons for the increasing youth participation which directly increases the dance audience.

Psychological Profiles

Included in this resource are psycholgical studies of ballet dancers. While the focus of this website is ballet tutu construction for "Moms" the fact that we are mothers of dancers is relevant. The psychological studies were cited with reference to non-professional dancers and high school and younger dancers. Generally speaking the psychological profile for these dancers is good and dance enhances their lives.

As parents of dancers, and some of us former dancers -- as opposed to psychologists studying dancers, we recognize that an interest in dance, particulary an interest that lasts no more than three or four years is not identical to the ten to twelve years of dedication to dance that is required for entering most University Dance Programs. Typically students found in these programs will be exclusively those students with both intellectual and physical aptitude and these are the calibre of students that remain with dance.

I think this is the component these psychological profilers miss. The profilers indicate that a dancer's success in dance translates to other areas of success in their lives. My belief is that only the successful students, and by that I mean across the board success, remain in dance. The true merit of these psychological profiles lies in their analysis of the professional dancer -- not of the dedicated secondary and univeristy level dancer. It is my opionion that only the brightest and best of students have the necessary mental and physical abilities to accept the challenges of advanced ballet and naturally these talents of these students will appear in other aspects of their lives. I do not believe ballet makes the student successful in other areas of their lives I believe it takes a successful person to master ballet. And so I disagree with many of the profiles of the dancers in their analysis of whether ballet creates a student who translates that success into other areas of their lives (which is the position of the profilers) or whether only the successful students suceed at ballet -- which is my opinion. See The Exeter News-Letter for an article whch adresses successful students who are also involved in ballet. The clear impression that can be drawn is that successful students are attracted to ballet. Ballet does not make successful students.

However, the psychological profile for the professional dancer is quite dirrerent from the profile of the non-professional. There seems to be universal agreement that overall students are not harmed by the non-professional study of ballet and these students tend to be the more successful students in other areas as well. There also appears to uniform agreement that the psychological profile of the professional dancer presents a grim psychological reality. Study these articles so that you can understand what your child really faces. They are so young, they cannot begin to understand the realities of the dance world. They think they are invincible. They are not.

Professionals have a need for self-determination, control of their professional lives, security for their future and remuneration to enhance their non-professional lives and the lives of their families. Professional dancers for the most part do not have this. Their sense of success comes from one source, the director of the dance. Their self-determination lies in the hands of another. Their professional future is limited generally speaking, their remuneration is relatively small, and they have little or no time for families. Their self image is based upon abnormal thinness and they must engage in deprivation to retain this image. Parents must understand these constraints before encouraging a professional career for their daughters. These articles are essential to review if your daughter or son is considering ballet as their profession.

The articles below were located through Ebsco Host. Your public library may participate in this program.

Alter, Judith B. Why dance students pursue dance: Studies of dance students from 1953 to 1993. Dance Research Journal, Winter 97, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p70.
This article investigates why students pursue dancing as a professional career based on studies of dance students from 1953 to 1993. The article indicates there is a growth trend in the pursuit of dance and in the growth of the audience.

Bakker, F.C. Personality Differences between Young Dancers and Nondancers. Personality and Individual Differences. Vol. 12, Issue 7, p. 671.
Bakker studied junior ballet dancers training for a professional career and spending fifteen or more hours a week on ballet. He noted this training appeals to a distinct subculture: relatively introverted, emotional, and strongly achievement motivated. He states the atmosphere might to some degree strengthen this profile. Those who have dropped out of professional ballet school choose dancing as a hobby and are attracted by the sub-culture of dance.

Barnes, Clive. Dressing Up Dance. Dance Magazine, Nov. 99, Vol. 73 Issue 11, p110.
Prior to 1929, and the death of Diaghilev it was di rigeur for ballet costumes to embellish the atmosphere of the ballet and was a major part of the expression of the dance. In this article Clive Barnes laments that dressing for dance has become almost as anachronistic as dressing for dinner. He gives credit to the minimalist costuming in instances where it has been effective i.e. Balanchine's need to rustle up a new ballet on the cheap with his black and white ballets and his experimentation with neoclassicism. He applauds Martha Graham's ability to design her own costumes for her own dances and expertly mesh the two. However, he notes, not all choreographers are Balanchine or Graham and even points to several of Balanchine's costuming mistakes, implying that Karinska was there to save him from himself.

He laments Frederick Ashton's weak sense of costuming, which clearly has been generally overcome in the restaging of the popular Cinderella. He praises the contemporaries and often times collaborators of Diaghilev, Alexander Benois and Leon Bakst and their obsession with costume for the dance. He calls them, innovators, and revolutionaries in a way, who wanted among other changes in the whole art of ballet, to bring costumes into a symbiotic relationship with dance. He noted the influence of Isadora Duncan and her simple flowing gowns used to enhance her movement. He praised Louie Fuller, and the diaphanous multicolored veils which became an integral part of her expression.

He paints a portrait of ballet costuming spanning his long career which few have had the opportunity to view first hand.

Daley, Amanda J.; Buchanan, Joanne. Aerobic dance and physical self-perceptions in female adolescents. Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, Jun99, Vol. 70 Issue 2, p196.
This article indicates that the benefits adolescent dancers receive from dance will keep them coming back. The growth of adolescent dancers inevitably leads to ballet audience growth.

Kalljopuska, M. Empathy, self-esteem and creativity among junior ballet dancers. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 69, 1227-1234.
Kalliopuska studied non-professional dancers. The results from non-professional dancers differ significantly from the studies of professional dancers.

Kalliopuska defines self esteem as the fact that one appreciates, accepts and respects oneself. A very low self esteem may reflect feeling s of inferiority, self blame, or even self hatred. To be able to express the direction that feels right requires strong self esteem of the dancer.

In this article Kalliopsucka evaluates dance as medium which combines the physical, aesthetic, and intellectual aspect of personality. She found that empathy is an important tool for a ballet dancer because dancer must be able to express the language of the art, dance, with the whole body. In projecting a role, a dancer has to try to convey to the audience what is central and essential in the role.

She evaluated the self esteem of dancer from the ages of 9 to 17 and found classical ballet promotes development of sound self esteem positive self respect and increased self confidence in the young. The years of dancing and self esteem correlate. Classic ballet as a hobby promotes the development of a person's sensitivity and empathy because empathy is expressed through emotions, kinesthetic expression and intellectual understanding. Generally, the hobby of ballet seems to develop strong sense of empathy in junior dancers. The ballet students manage normal school work better than average students.

She found that ballet demanded both psychic endurance and strong self-esteem. One learns to judge critically one's own achievements. A goal for dancers is a mastery of dance technique, gaining profound knowledge of the history of dance and of music and of the place of dance in the culture. Accomplishing these goals developed self-esteem.

Murray, Louis. Dancing in the Millennium: An International Conference. Dance Research Journal, Winter2000/2001, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p. 144.
This article focus not on the past of dance but its future which is strong. It indicates that dance schools will grow by 15-20 percent in the next twenty years With this growth forecast it appears that more and more mothers and dancing daughters will be interested in ballet tutu construction. There is no indication that classical ballet will loose dancers to other forms of dance. Dancing in the Millennium was the topic at the international dance conference.

Sussmann, Leila. Dance audiences: Answered and unanswered questions. Dance Research Journal, Spring98, Vol. 30 Issue 1, p. 54.
This is the definitive study on the nature of the dance audience. It was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and looks at the various qualitative and quantitative studies of dance audiences. It examines the changes in the educational composition of the ballet audience from the traditional norms, the educational composition of the modern dance audience and perceptions of modern dance and ballet. As the middle class in our country has grown so has the involvement in dance whether at the audience level of the level of participation through a family member. This is a growing segment of our society.

Taylor, L.D. The MMPI-2 and junior ballet dancers. Personality and Individual Differences. Volume 22, Issue 4, p. 521 526.
MMPI-2 was given to ballet majors at an accredited midwestern university which indicated that dancers may have a unique MMPI-2 profile. The ballet pre-professionals were found to have higher physical complaints, sensitivity to criticism, strong sense of feminity, higher creativity, and perfectionist tendencies. Taylor notes that the timing of the test was not the best in that a class ballet requiring hours of work had just been completed with three weeks left to prepare for the Nutcracker.

Encyclopediae of Dance

Chujoy, Anatole and P. W. Manchester,P.W., ed. The Dance Encyclopedia. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1967. (Out of Print.)
This "encyclopedia" was unique in its time. I might be disappointing to a modern audience accustomed to color photos and elaborate compositions. However, if it could be purchased at a reasonable used price it would be a good addition to any library and well worth the shelf space.

Cohen, Selma Jeanne Cohen, ed. International Encyclopedia of Dance : A Project of Dance Perspectives, Oxford University Press, 1998. ($1.475.75)
This is the pre-eminent dance encylopedia. Its price is prohibitive for most libraries and in fact the UNT library does not contain this encyclopedia, although I would recommend it. It is wonderful and should be essential for any university library which offers dance.

Clarke, Mary and Vaughn, David, ed. Encyclopedia of Dance and Ballet. Bookthrift Company, 1980. (Out of print.)
This Encyclopedia is appropriate for any library on a budget if it could be purchased used at a reasonable price. I would recommend it for all libraries and it would support any reseach a student might attempt. Obviously, it cannot compete with the International Encyclopedia of Dance but most libraries can afford this encyclopedia. It is extremely difficult to find this type of information on dance in one publication. This could be an important reference.

Thank you for visiting my website.

Please contact me should you have any questions.

Lee Ann Torrans
ltorrans@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting my website.

Please contact me should you have any questions.

Lee Ann Torrans
ltorrans@gmail.com

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