s lead to a blurring of the line between ballet dancer and model. The frequent crossover between fashion designers and ballet companies, suggests that ballet dancers are not only expected to uphold their role as a ballet dancer, but also that of a model.
Furthermore the whole idea of a ballerina lifestyle has proven to be appealing to consumers, which has made it necessary for female ballet dancers to carry forth their discipline for ballet in all aspects of their lives. Elizabeth Wissinger explains in her article “Modeling Consumption: Fashion Modeling Work in Contemporary Society” the necessity of models (and by extension ballerinas) to live the type of lifestyle that consumers want to partake in through consumption: “By working hard to produce the image of living the ‘model life’, workers in this industry model a lifestyle that is then packaged and sold to consumers as an experience that can be had for the price of their attention” (Wissinger 273). As ballerina’s are becoming increasingly involved with advertising, the ballet dancers are expected to maintain not only the model life that Wissinger explains but also the perfect ballerina life that consumers now want to buy into.
The crux of the issue remains that in order for a ballerina to find success she must meet the most extreme expectations of feminine beauty, which inevitably leads to the perpetuation of a value system that idealizes an unattainable feminine form. While certain physical qualifications are needed to meet these goals, it is the costuming and ballet uniforms which most outwardly project the feminine expectations of a ballerina. Moreover the recent increase in collaborations between designers and ballet dancers demonstrates the inherent connection between success and upholding feminine expectations in industries attempting to sell a dream or a particular lifestyle to consumers.
Bartkey, Sandra Lee. Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison. Trans. Alan Sheridan. New York, Random House, Inc., 1975.
Wissinger, Elizabeth. “Modeling Consumption: Fashion Modeling Work in Contemporary Society.” Journal of Consumer Culture 15 June 2009: pgs 273-296