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The way ballet dancers gracefully twirl and spin to music is designed to look effortless, but it takes a lot of sweat and hard work.
Dancers are under constant pressure to perform well, and the ballet world is one that is rife with clichés.
One of those clichés is that all dancers are thin because they are anorexic – which Maria Baranova, prima ballerina of the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, Germany, says is untrue.
Being thin is more a consequence of training, she says. Ballet is a competitive sport in an artistic guise.

A normal working day for Baranova, for example, begins at 10am and ends at 6pm. “We are top athletes. Every performance is like an Olympics for us, we are pushing our boundaries every day.”
The job is tough and requires a lot of discipline. “There’s no easy way out. We are live on stage every time – you can’t Photoshop your result,” she says.
China street cleaner, 63, realises ballet-dancing boyhood dream
Laurent Hilaire, director of the Bavarian State Ballet, says dancers are athletes of the highest calibre who have honed their craft for decades.
Ballet companies are aware of the danger of eating disorders like anorexia, says Hilaire – who was a star dancer for the Paris Opera Ballet for two decades – but it does not happen very often any more.
“We talk about it, we are concerned about it. I am by no means calling for [a certain] type of anorexic dancer, nor do I support it,” he emphasises.

Ballet academies now offer health programmes. The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (HMTM) has a performance nutritionist, Dora Meyer, who teaches ballet students “the knowledge and skills to be able to make food choices that support their health, well-being, growth and performance”.
Unhealthy eating habits in the ballet world remain widespread, Meyer says. Dancers are three times more likely than non-dancers to develop an eating disorder.
“Studies show that young dancers generally only consume 70 per cent of the recommended energy intake and have a below-average body weight and fat mass.”

Meyer offers workshops, cooking classes and individual counselling sessions at the university. Twice a year, she provides students with nutritional recommendations and works with them to develop personalised nutrition plans tailored to their lifestyle.
There is also a set minimum weight at HMTM. “It is important that dancers recognise that they are both artists and athletes. Without the right nutrition, performance suffers,” says Meyer.
Prima ballerina Baranova also supports maintaining a healthy diet. “You can’t eat air – your body can’t function without fuel.”
‘I wanted to create’: Hong Kong Ballet choreographer Ricky Hu on his calling
If you want to dance, you have to start early. Baranova began dancing at the age of three. By 12 or 13, you should be training every day and doing a lot of physical work.
“At some point, it becomes the norm. You get used to it. It’s the normal path, because the body has to withstand the pressure. And ballet becomes your identity,” says Baranova.
The changes that are happening in the ballet world do not just relate to physical ideals. The past 50 years has seen the dance standard and dancing techniques change, says Hilaire.

Ballet has become more athletic and involves more physical labour – it has become a high-performance sport.
“It’s a competitive field. On the sporting side, everyone tries to achieve the highest performance,” says Baranova. At the same time, she says, “you are a storyteller”.
Hilaire agrees. “Classical ballet in its entire repertoire tells stories of love, hate, infidelity and much more – in my opinion, it’s about life. That’s the reason classical ballet remains relevant.”
The Maoist film that wowed the West after premiering at Venice Film Festival
To make their pirouettes and grand jetés look effortless and graceful, ballet dancers must put a serious amount of effort into their training.
“Most injuries start in your mind and then the body reacts. To perform, your body and mind have to be completely connected,” says Baranova. “The most wonderful moment is when you connect with your partner when you’re live on stage. It’s magical.”


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Ballet

Artists or athletes? Ballet dancers are both: insiders on why dance is like high-performance sport, the anorexic stereotype, and proper nutrition

Bavarian State Ballet dancer Maria Baranova dances during a ballet rehearsal. She and the troupe’s director reveal their thoughts on why ballet is a competitive sport and why being thin is a consequence of training. Photo: Getty Images

A dancer of the Bavarian State Ballet stretches during a rehearsal. Photo: Getty Images

Laurent Hilaire is the director of the Bavarian State Ballet. Photo: Getty Images

Dancers of the Bavarian State Ballet during a ballet rehearsal. For a long time, the ballet world was overshadowed by toxic body images and critical training methods. Photo: Getty Images

Dancers of the Bavarian State Ballet in the rehearsal hall of the Bavarian State Opera. The changes that are happening in the ballet world do not just relate to physical ideals. Photo: Getty Images

‘Do you get aroused?’ Retired ballet dancer David McAllister aims to demystify his profession, and talks about school bullying, where he came alive, and diets

David McAllister performing in Harald Lander’s “Etudes”. The former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and its longest serving artistic director, peeks behind the curtain with his new book, “Ballet Confidential”. Photo: David Parker

McAllister was born in 1963 in Perth, Western Australia. Photo: Peter Brew Bevan

The cover of McAllister’s book. Photo: David McAllister

McAllister pictured in 1973 getting ready for ballet class with his sister Dianne. Photo: courtesy of David McAllister

 McAllister on the Great Wall of China in 1993. Photo: Jim McFarlane 

McAllister with Vicki Attard in a 2000 studio shot for “El Tango”. Photo: Greg Barrett 

McAllister working on his 2015 interpretation of “The Sleeping Beauty”. Photo: Kate Longley 

In his book, McAllister talks about everything from gender bias to the evolution of pointe shoes. Photo: Justin Ridler 

EDM artists Gioli & Assia on being LGBTQ, dealing with prejudice, their chemistry with audiences, and staying true to themselves

EDM artists Gioli & Assia perform at a W Presents event at the W Osaka hotel in Japan. Photo: W Osaka

Gioli & Assia perform at the W Presents event at the W Osaka hotel in Japan. 

Hong Kong performance of Tang Xianzu’s The Peony Pavilion by Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe was impressive, but not as ‘complete’ as it claimed to be

A scene from part two of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s The Peony Pavilion (Complete Version) at the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

A scene from The Peony Pavilion (Complete Version) at the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival, performed by Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe. The performance was impressive, but the story wasn’t as complete as the title promised. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

A scene from part one of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s presentation of The Peony Pavilion. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

A scene from part one of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s The Peony Pavilion. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

A scene from part two of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s The Peony Pavilion. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

A scene from part three of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s staging of The Peony Pavilion. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

A scene from part three of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s version of The Peony Pavilion. Photo: Annie Chow Ka-yee

Hong Kong’s first Jungle Island Music Festival, on Lantau Island, will have a line-up of 50 DJs, 10 bands and real toilets

Rising rockers Whitt’s End are part of the line-up at Hong Kong’s first Jungle Island Music Festival, set to rock Lantau from March 15 to 17, 2024. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival


DJ Mengzy (above) will be on the decks at the Jungle Island Music Festival in Hong Kong. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival



Afrobeat group Afroseas will be playing Hong Kong’s first Jungle Island Music Festival. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival 

Indie favourites Shumking Mansion are lined up for the festival. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival 

“This festival is about diversity and inclusivity all in the name of music and community,” says Nikki Davies, a co-organiser of the Jungle Island Music Festival. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival

DJ T.A.O. will be part of the line-up at the festival. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival 

DJ Changa will be mixing beats and genres at the festival in Tai Long Wan, Lantau Island. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival 

The Jungle Island Music Festival will be held at Tai Long Wan on Lantau Island, from March 15 to 17. Photo: Google Maps

Shanghai in the 1930s brought to life through enchanting conversations with Billie Gill, a former fixture of the Chinese city’s literary scene

Billie Gill in the 1950s. During the 1930s she was a fixture of Shanghai’s literary scene. Our writer Jason Wordie sat down with her for enchanting conversations about the past, before her death in 2006. Photo: Courtesy of Gill family 

South China Morning Post writer Jason Wordie with Billie Gill in Switzerland in 2002, where the former fixture of Shanghai’s literary scene regaled him with enchanting tales of China in the 1930s. Photo: Jason Wordie

The cover of “China to Me” by Emily Hahn.

Ian and Billie Gill in 1953. Photo: courtesy of Gill family

The cover of Lin Yutang’s “My Country and My People”.

Billie (left) with a colleague in Hong Kong, in 1939. Photo: courtesy of Ian Gill

The Soong sisters, (from left) Mei Ling, Ai Ling and Ching Ling, in Chungking – now Chongqing – in China, 1942. Photo: AP

(From right) Billie, her son Ian, Emily Hahn’s daughter Carola and Hahn in England, in 1946. Photo: courtesy of the Gill Family

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

A prima ballerina and a ballet director explain why they consider dancers are athletes and how ballet these days is a competitive sport in an artistic guise
They say the notion that all dancers are thin because they are anorexic is an outdated stereotype and explain how dance academies teach students to be healthy


Ballet dancers are both artists and athletes, insiders say, and ballet similar to a competitive sport. That dancers are thin is a consequence of their training, not anorexia, they explain.
