A terrè

About a year ago I was struggling to find a topic for my photography portfolio that would be both meaningful to me and impactful for the viewer.

Around that same time, I decided to come back to ballet classes once again, after almost 7 years of inactivity. I thought, why not express my emotions on my journey as a dancer?

I started dancing when I was 3 years old up until I was 14, then on and off through the end of my teenage years. While I love dancing, it can be an exhausting practice. It is a tremendous discipline that requires engaging every muscle of your body. It requires delicate movements to seem as effortless as can be. That kind of pressure has a psychological impact to it that is not acknowledged.

Getting into character for auditions, nonstop practices from Monday to Sunday, burned out muscles and toes, always being on call with perfect posture, trying not to fall during a competition, not “cutting it” based on your weight or measurements, for example, are all factors that negatively impact a dancer’s mental health within the ballet industry. Not to mention how hard a dancer can be on his or herself by being tied to others’ expectations.

I look back at the times where I was a dancer with nostalgia and impotence as I now see the almost irreparable damage of how an anxiety inducing environment can impact a forming young adult without the right kind of support system. This goes not only for the ballet industry, but for all other disciplines and sports that require someone to be at their 100% of their capacity all the time.

I wanted to shed light to what happens behind the scenes. To show the respect I’ve learned to have towards individuals who practice any kind of sport and to raise awareness on the mental health hardships that come with it.