Ballerina To Critic: "I'm Not Overweight"

At the end of a November NY Times review, critic Alastair Macaulay wrote that ballerina Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, "looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many." The 37-year-old Ringer, a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, is now speaking out about the criticism.

Yesterday the formerly anorexic Ringer (who hasn't seen Black Swan yet!) declared on national television: "I'm not overweight!" She told Ann Curry on the Today show that the critic's comment made her "feel bad. I really had to tell myself that's one person's opinion out of 2,000 people who were there that night."

According to Jezebel, the critic "tried to explain why he would make such a comment: the body matters to ballet, an overweight body inhibits performance, etc. What he failed to do was explain how the ballerina, one Jenifer Ringer (who absolutely is not overweight), performed in a manner that suggested she was off her game and how that might be because of her weight." Macauley also noted in a follow-up to his original piece, "If you want to make your appearance irrelevant to criticism, do not choose ballet as a career."

During her television appearance yesterday Ringer said, "As a dancer, I do put myself out there to be criticized, and my body is part of my art form. I do have a more womanly body type than the stereotypical ballerina." She added, "If you're too thin, really, you can't do the job."

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By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on December 14, 2010 11:11 AM

Comments [rss]

JenChungsBaby

My god! Her BMI must be at least 7 or 8! What a cow!

snickerdoodle

Great way to get people thinking about going to the ballet during the holiday season, especially since Broadway/off-Broadway/Lincoln Center is taking a hit in ticket sales because nobody's going to the theater anymore. Need to drum up support and interest? Call an anorexic dancer "fat" and watch the media fall all over itself reporting on your calculated insult and sparking endless boring commentaries about this country's dysfunctional relationship with food and weight.

Brainwash

All ballerinas, please report to my office for a full body inspection immediately.

angry_pickle

I'm guessing Alastair Macaulay is probably gay and likes his women as thin as the barbie dolls he played with as a kid. I'm glad to see this lady can dance and not look dried up and bony like some others that I've seen.

healthstudent

Christ, what an asshole...

randomtransplant

This is exactly the sort of comment people go to a professional critic for - so they don't have to read it!

Its not exactly like Ballet is branching out & capturing the imaginations of Americans any longer. I feel bad for the dancers - most of them are taught to starve themselves, according to Macaulay's view of the art, long before they can make their own choices.

Stefi

It's true, ballerinas need to be very thin and light in order to dance well (also for the men that pick them up and carry them around). I didn't see this performance so I'm not sure of her weight "issues" etc... but regardless if the critic was right or wrong, why is this such a shocker?
Models and ballerinas are both constantly criticized for their weight from the moment they start their careers, so I'm surprised this made such a big uproar.

I wish this much attention had been given to the young lady that was raped in the subway station while MTA officials watched and did nothing to help her. There's been many attacks and rapes this year alone in the subway stations, and I really wish there would be an angry uproar on this safety issue instead of some ballerina who feels hurt about a weight comment in an industry already based on criticism and perfection. Meanwhile, the rape victims keep adding up.

And guess what, the judge threw the case out!
http://gothamist.com/2009/04/0...

Here's one that got away. Thank goodness. http://gothamist.com/2010/12/1...

robingee

I see what you are trying to say here, but almost every story written anywhere could be replaced by something More Important. A new panda at the zoo? But people are starving in our streets!

Every story is a story. I don't see what rapes have to do with this ballerina article. I read crime stories here all the time. If you want to write about something you find urgent then do it. That's part of the greatness of the Internet.

Stefi

You're right Robin, there is always something more important to write about. I guess I'm just surprised such a story continues to generate press since she works in an industry full of intense criticism anyway. I mean, how many people actually care about the ballet these days? I bet the statistic is very low, but most of us use the subway, and why aren't people concerned with the safety of their mothers, sisters, and daughters who ride the subway on a daily basis?

I just had to throw this out there, even if just to increase awareness, so maybe the people who are so angry about this weight comment might also care and be angry about the unsafe situation in the subway system. My fingers are crossed.

JenChungsBaby

The MTA workers did do something. They called the police.

chuzzlewit

looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many
well, at least his writing is weak, skinny, and frail.

fuboy

I agree that a ballerina needs to be in excellent shape - the job demands it. But there are hundreds of reasons someone might give a sub-par performance - she's a little sick, her cat died that morning, the dressing room's crawling with bed bugs... but to just go with "she's a little porky" is just lazy criticism.

And, by the way, telling the woman who recovered from an eating disorder that she's a fatty? Good job, dick. What's your follow up, doing the color commentary for the Special Olympics?