Pain in Performance: Abuse, Starvation, and Exploitation of Women on the Ballet Stage

Abstract

Pain, sexual abuse, and exploitation of women have plagued the institution of ballet since its creation, but these are not merely unfortunate circumstances. Ballet, through pursuit of being considered a high art, has cultivated these abuses, depending on them for funding, aesthetics, and publicity. We cannot separate ballet as an art from these truths when the ballet canon is entrenched in violence against women. To continue performing and praising these works without acknowledging their pasts and the abuses that took place, only serves to continue a culture of shame and silence that forces dancers to accept trauma as a norm.