Boobs and Ballet: a writing experience for women

Has living in a female body ever been challenging, mysterious, confusing? Ever wonder what you really think about your breasts? Felt slightly confused by that thing called ‘being feminine’?

Ready to start a conversation with your boobs?

Google ‘boobs’ and you get a page of websites about breast shape, lingerie sizing and maternity clothes. All of which seems to have everything to do with having breasts, but in fact does not.

Or does, but only in the sense that shape, size, and feeding babies as the biological purpose of breasts (which one of the websites leads with) are all concepts with which those of us who have breasts have to deal with, because they are imposed upon us. Because we have breasts.

Yes, it’s circular. Therefore, foggy and dense-brain making.

Pretty as a Picture

Like breasts, ballet carries several wagonloads of preconceptions, impositions, concepts and, yes, stereotypes. To be a ballet dancer, even just to take a ballet class, is to step squarely into the middle of all of that. But in fact the ballet dancer mythology extends way past the studio entrance. Who doesn’t want to be beautiful as a ballerina? All toned slimness dressed in white tulle, lifted like a feather and (we tend to ignore this part) dying for love.

Also-strong as hell, tougher than a football player (there have been studies), capable of huge feats of endurance and one of the prime examples of extreme athletics plus consummate artistry.

But no one thinks about that part when they gush about the pretty little pink-clad girls in their sequined tutu skirts.

Why I created this class

I was a ballet dancer and teacher. I also had boobs. This was a problem, as the two are not, conceptually, supposed to go together—even though most women in tutus also have breasts, of some size and shape.

During covid I had the privilege of running 3 beta workshops online with current and former professional ballet and contemporary dancers from the Dutch dance scene. They ranged in age from 18 to 70, some had children, some not, some still performing, some teaching, some retired.

What became clear to me was that this is a topic that deserves exploration both inside and outside the dance world. Dancers can’t escape body scrutiny, but what they experience is simply a heightened version of what most women in western contexts live inside of.

There are so many people now exploring body image, fatness, trans bodies. Finally, there seems to be some room between the ‘rules’ and the people those rules were designed to control. Yay! And-my interest is in how we can take this moment of freedom and run with it. I want to know what dreams, rages, ideas, colors,  words, fragments of poetry, senses of self are living in our cells and brains, shy and tender, afraid and in hiding, or just not used to being asked what they think.

Want to join?

Send me an email using the link (in the page footer) below. I am planning two series: one in-person class in Amsterdam and an online class on Zoom, so be sure to tell me about your location/time zone, as well as a short intro/why you are interested.