As modern-day ballet continuously develops, allowing new artistic choices, the standards and expectations for dancers grow with it. What was once considered a performing art is starting to become more of a sport. This gives recognition to the physical demands of ballet, but can also raise the expectations of a dancer’s ability.
Ballet was originally a type of dance formed in the Italian Renaissance courts in the 15th and 16th centuries. Later, the technique was further developed in France, moving it onto the stage and into the performing art we know today. The main purpose of ballet, after being developed by the French, was storytelling and communication of emotions through movement.
However, in modern ballet, there has been a recent shift in focus from artistry to athleticism. Dancers are expected to demonstrate extreme ability in complex choreography, dance competitions and social media.
Media portrayal has definitely shaped modern-day ballet. Videos on the internet go viral of ballet dancers with high leg extensions, insane jumps and numerous pirouettes. These displays have increased the demand for tricks and extreme athletic ability in ballet.
“It can enhance competition and set unrealistic expectations of ability and physique, especially among young dancers,” Hazel Van Orman ’26 a dancer at Footworks Youth Ballet, said.
For the new generation of dancers, ballet has turned into a competition rather than an art form. Dancers are neglecting the roots of the performing art and forgetting why they dance. Ballet begins to evolve into a rivalry over who can achieve the most extreme extensions or the most turns, which is further fueled by dance competitions. As the standards rise higher and higher, dancers can burn out or injure themselves.
A 2023 study in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation on professional dancers at the Opéra de Paris (2018-2023) determined that the occurrence of musculoskeletal injury per season ranged from 47.1 percent to 72.6 percent.
A separate study in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine shows that 82.6 percent of injuries in ballet are linked to overuse. These injury rates reflect how dancers’ physical limits are being pushed
“I think that with the media and with all this pressure to have crazy turns and crazy flexibility, it’s becoming more of a sport rather than an art,” Finley Colavito ‘26, a dancer at Footworks Youth Ballet, said.
Impressive tricks have led the new generation of ballet dancers to focus too much on achieving extreme ability. Even though a dancer’s ability and technique are very important, it becomes a problem when dancers begin to lose the artistic and musical aspect of ballet.
Foothill Tech alumnus Maya Holbrook, who went on to graduate from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 2022 with a bachelor’s in fine arts, expressed her opinions on this issue.
“I feel there’s been a rise in [the] importance of how many pirouettes you can do, rather than what makes musical sense,” she said.
It’s important for dancers to artistically express themselves and feel the music. Using their physical talent, they can tell a story through motion and music to create art. The artistic aspect of ballet is what makes it so beautiful and captivating to watch. Without it, it has no meaning.
As the ballet industry develops with new artistic choices and new demands, it’s important for dancers to balance the expressive and storytelling side with the technical ability to bring it to life.
