Its been a long time since I have felt the urge to blog but Alistair Macaulay’s latest review just cannot be ignored. With a hat tip to Jezebel’s post, I present to you the following excerpt from his review of New York City Ballet’s Nutcracker:
This didn’t feel, however, like an opening night. Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many;
Really?! I decided long ago to ignore any review of modern dance because of his absolute ignorance but this is appalling. One sugar plum too many? Is this germane to her dancing? Is it even within the realm of reason?
For further perspective on Jenifer Ringer there is a great article on her in Working Mother.
The highlights: She’s a twenty-year veteran, a mom, and has admitted
that she struggled with bouts of both anorexia and compulsive eating
I’m not saying he had to know of her background but for god’s sake can he really be unaware of eating disorders in women and, in particular, dancers?! And that his unnecessary, unprofessional, throwaway comment can have a devastating effect on the health of these and other women?
For a different perspective on Jenifer’s performance please read Leigh’s article:
Act 2 has most of the dancing, and Jenifer Ringer was a Sugarplum Fairy crafted by an expert confectioner. She danced a sophisticated solo, during which she played with the music just enough and no more. You can also see she’s the mother of a toddler herself in the warm way she smiled at the child angels shuffling about her.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, right? Fine. Lets just know up front that he only prefers ballerinas that look a certain way so that we are clear when his bias colors his review. And NYCB? Ban him from your performances and get a reviewer in there who can review the dancing.
Third in the series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRyx5Kyv_vg
November 30th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Very well said. I don’t think this review can go unnoticed - this only helps to reinforce
the stereotype of the rail thin dancer and promotes eating disorders in dancers, and
convinces youngsters that this acceptable.
December 1st, 2010 at 7:49 am
I couldn’t agree more, and this is exactly why I started my blog about body image. It’s ridiculous! here is the link to my post about this incident.http://mybodymyimage.com/alastair-calls-nycbs-jenifer-ringer-fat
December 7th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
I just wanted to share my new post which is a critique on critics!!! check it out here:
http://mybodymyimage.com/a-critique-on-critics
thanks.