The world of high-performance sports can push an athlete to the limit, both physically and mentally. But when do the costs outweigh the benefits? When does participation do more harm than good? 

A research project led by UFV kinesiology student Meigan Picard examined those questions through the lens of competitive ballet culture. Her paper suggests women ballet dancers are at higher risk for body dysmorphia, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, perfectionism, and other mental health issues. Substance abuse is more likely, and they’re vulnerable to sexual abuse.  

None of that comes as a shock to Meigan. She grew up in ballet culture, dreaming of a career on stage, and spent a year training in Boston when she was 15. Meigan believes body dysmorphia – a mental health condition where she obsessed over perceived flaws in her physical appearance – led to an eating disorder.  

“I remember being 10 and thinking I was big in comparison to other girls,” she recalls. “By the time I was 15 I was told that I had low bone density, and that scared me a lot. I also had a couple ankle surgeries, and at that point it registered that I needed to start taking care of my body.” 

For her research, Meigan interviewed 10 dancers between the ages of 18-25. She found participants from professional ballet companies in Canada and the United States who needed at least two years of pre-professional training to qualify. They needed to be currently in a ballet company or be retired from one. 

With a focus on the highest levels of competitive ballet, dancers training at recreational/competition studios were excluded. 

Interview questions were intentionally open-ended and produced some truly impactful responses. A common theme was cyclic trauma, with teachers and others in power normalizing unhealthy practices and behaviours for their students because they were once taught these things. This is exacerbated, Meigan says, when peers influence one another due to competitiveness and/or jealousy. 

As one participant in her study explained, “…teachers would say, ‘You should take an apple and slice it and make the apple last all day. Eat a slice throughout the day and that’s all you should eat, and maybe a bowl of broth.’ And if someone was anorexic or was starving themselves, everybody would be jealous of them. The more people that had it, the more you felt like you had to eat like that too, you know?” 

As another noted, “ballet teachers would explicitly tell friends of mine to lose 20 pounds, and they would get moved up a level, or to get a breast reduction and they’d get moved up, or they would be moved down if they didn’t lose weight, or (they were) given explicit guidelines on what to eat, and at what times of day.” 

Four participants suggested the use of shaming, guilt-tripping, and public humiliation existed in reinforcing unhealthy behaviours. 

Meigan says the darker side of competitive ballet culture is kept hush hush. Those within it accept it as the way it is, afraid to say something and perhaps lose out on opportunities. 

When she was immersed in ballet, Meigan said little about the physical and mental toll it was taking. But eight years later, with no desire to have a career in ballet, she reflects on her experiences and presents her findings without fear.  

“For people I still have personal connections to, I know they’re afraid to speak up and I know they’re going through a lot of things mentioned in this study. Everyone knows it happens, but no one talks about it.” 

Unanimously, all study participants cited mental health as a serious issue. 

“I think that we definitely turn a blind eye to mental health in general because we’re just told to suck it up,” one said. “We’ve been told, ‘Oh, you can come talk to me whenever you want,’ but no one’s gonna go to the artistic director’s office and tell them how much of a hard time they are having because they’re afraid that it’s going to affect casting, and that’s going to affect other things.  

“You don’t want to seem weak.” 

Meigan hopes the study sparks conversation around these issues, acting as a catalyst for change. 

“We need something to get the ball rolling,” she says. “The mountain of problems is intimidating, and it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. Setting standards and expectations will take time, and I’m just doing what I can, even if it’s just small steps that might lead to bigger changes.”