Strong and Vital No 3

Repor tage

Ballet and Dance The Dictatorship of Perfection Age Discrimination on Stage Plié, battement, relevé, arabesque, attitude, pirouette... Hours of barre exer cises, then free exercises, diagonals, strengthening exercises on the floor and finally stretching. Every day, the same programme is repeated according to a strict logic that requires permanent complete muscle tension, full concentra tion and absolute precision. The classical dancers we admire in theatres have always trained since childhood, dedicating unconditionally a large part of their time to this very demanding physical art form. When talent is expressed and passion awakens, the time is ripe to intensify training, which always requires sacrifice and consistency - ballet knows no compromise. New friendships are made and at the same time competition arises between dancers, which can lead to open warfare. Hand in hand with the increase in physical commitment, pain and discomfort can occur due to overexertion, which are often treated without interrupting training and thus drag on over time. The Dreaded Time of Transition For these reasons in particular, a career in ballet, like any professional sport with its physical demands, is often limited in time. In fact, most ballet careers end in the mid-30s. The age limit for a prima ballerina at the Paris Opera is 42.5 years! That, at least, is an internal rule that so precisely defines the end of the activity. Why 42.5? In order to promote the alleged equality between men and women, the retirement age was set as the average of the two, because previously it was 45 for men and 40 for women. Officially, however, there are no predetermined age limits in other ballet com panies, even in other countries. At least on paper. In Italy, for example, the retirement age for professional dancers is 47 (for both genders), which does not necessarily mean that this age marks the end of their career, but rather that dancers are entitled to an old-age pension from this point onwards, as their work is considered physically strenuous. According to some statistics, at international level the average end of a career for ballet dancers is 29 years while the point of no return for modern dancers is set a little later, at around 40 years. For ballet dancers, it is clear from their debut that they will (have to) retire from the stage early - in their mid-thirties or around the age of 40 at the latest, regardless of their artistic level - and then embark on a second career. This is exactly what is expected of them, as it is generally assumed that this is the time when the body gets tired and a new, fresh generation has to replace the 30-year-olds in good time. Even the media usually spreads the common negative narrative that ballet dancers have a short professional life expectancy. For many of those affected, this attitude has to do with social narrow-mindedness. The outside world has the impression that dancers can only present them selves as professionals up to a certain age, like in football or basketball. After that, there are still many alternatives, for example switching to a new role such as ballet teacher or choreographer, or taking up a new degree programme. In the same way, many actually use their existing knowledge of working with the body and end up in the health professions, where they become therapists. «If you do this job, you push your body to the limit.» Roberto Bolle (49, Italy)

Is Chronological Age Still a Sentence One Cannot Escape? The usual ideas about ballet leave older and experienced dancers in the lurch. But they would still certainly be able to exhibit on stage, as many exam ples today show. Many performers are fighting to stay in the scene, they feel that they still have a lot to offer, both on a purely technical level as well as in terms of artistic expression. Maturity offers numerous aspects, not only in psychological terms, which should not be underestimated, such as extreme body control, precision and expressive ness. Over the years, many have deve loped a better understanding of their physical instrument and know exactly how to use their strength and where their limits lie. It is precision work. Phy siotherapists, masseurs, chiropractors and even orthopaedists are always on hand to meet the special needs of older dancers.

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STRONG and VITAL No. 3 - 2024