Do you expect dancers to be thin?

I don’t expect anyone to be a certain body type, no. I expect dancers to be physically fit, but that is not the same as “thin,” to me.

Personally, I think an overweight dancer could be just as good if not better than a thin dancer. I think that it’s the chosen routine and dancing style that would or wouldn’t make an overweight dancer seem clumsy. I have a few friends that go to a school for dance, one of them is really petite while the other two are average and overweight. They all three are very well dancers, so in my opinion I don’t think a dancer has to be thin, just capable of handling their body and getting it to move how they want.

Heck no. As long as the actor/dancer can carry off the performance to the level of expected perfection, it matters not how they look.

Just for fun, feel free to watch this video clip from the Graham Norton show. I couldn’t dance like this at any age or weight. To me, it’s all about talent.

You know how strict about body types the Russians are about classical ballet? I went to a ballet performance in Rostov on Don, which is a community of many artists supported by the government. The dancers were of many body types and sizes which became obvious when one of the dances they performed had only leotards and tights for costumes. Their dancing was wonderful and their various body images did not detract from the passion of the message the dancing represented. It was fund to be able to tell the dancers apart instead of the identical character of the ensemble you usually see.

Absolutely not. I used to do volunteer work for a mixed ability (read: disabled and able-bodied) dance company, and some of their work was breathtaking and gorgeous.

No. I expect them to be good.

Not exclusively so

It depends on several things. The style of the dance and what do they personally bring to it. Some dances like the tango have a close hold and an overweight individual may look like they do not have adequate body distance that allows you to appreciate the movements or each person in the dance. But some individuals bring there own special qualities to a dance that can make you appreciate it in a different way than the dance originally was meant to do.
Some fit individuals may dance the tango and do it without the passion but are on point with the steps and style, and you may have an overweight person who may not look elegant dancing the tango, but portray the passion part of it brilliantly.
So it depends on what appeals to you with certain movements of dance.
Some overweight individual can also dance light as a feather and some fit people dance like they have bricks in their feet.

I couldn’t find the original, but here is a remix of the famous dance off between Patrick Swayzee and Chris Farley.

@Pandora There was a link from fluther to a video of our own SimonedeBeauvoir dancing the tango that might make you rethink your prejudice about size and Tango elegance. Although I don’t know if the link would still work. I can tell you she was pretty good.

I dance with people of all sizes and shapes, and have seen performances with many dancers who are not traditional dance shapes. I’ve enjoyed many of these dances. I do not require dancers to look stick thin. Although, I’ve noticed a very weird thing. My daughter is naturally thin. Her doctor thinks she should gain some weight, which I think is silly, especially given her mother’s shape. It’s genes (though not my genes).

Anyway, my daughter takes dance classes and during the recitals a funny thing happens. Some of the dancers are so painfully thin that they make my daughter look nearly full figured in comparison. So comparisons and context can change our way of seeing things pretty dramatically. On her own, no one would think my daughter needed anything but to gain a few pounds. Next to some of these ballet dancers, she looks like she could lose a few pounds. Ick!

No I don’t I find belly dances to be amazingly erotic and sensual when they dance. Some are thin, some are not. I prefer the ones with curves.

The Mark Morris dance troupe exemplifies the use of non-emaciated dancers, including Mr. Morris himself. He got fatter and fatter and continued to perform, happily and unselfconsciously, to riotous applause and adulation (and huge financial enumeration).

“Mark Morris was long noted for the musicality and power of his dancing as well as his amazing delicacy of movement. His body was heavier than the typical dancer, more like that of an average person, yet his technical and expressive abilities outstripped those of most of his contemporaries.” Source

“Mark William Morris (born 29 August 1956) is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments.” Same source..

The Dance Theatre of Harlem (founded by Arthur Mitchell in 1969) took pride in using black dancers and training them in classical ballet. Their bodies were also not always those of the traditional shape and size. Source

” The DTH is renowned both as “the first black classical ballet company”, and “the first major ballet company to prioritize black dancers”.

And “DTH challenged the classical dance world to review its stereotypes and revise its boundaries.”

I think the definition and perception of what is “thin” varies too much for a question like this. From the answers I think I use thin to describe someone with more weight than others? I am really not sure. I would say the majority of the professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars for instance are thin. None of them are skinny to me. They all look healthy, I don’t think anyone needs to gain weight or would be mistaken for anorexic.

However, I do think the overall concensus here is weight is not a big factor in your enjoyment of a performance.

I’m kind of with @Pandora. For me certain types of dance I expect a certain physique. Never skin and bones, I don’t find that attractive at all, but overweight usually is not very appealing to me if it is a ballet for instance. I once went to a college performance of West Side Story, and some of the students were quite overweight, the dancing was below par at times, and all of it coupled together was a negative. My local theatre puts on a lot of musicals and many of the performers, some dancers are average weight, not thin, not fat, let’s say women as big as American size 10 for a frame of reference. They don’t all have the same body shape when lined up, it is far from being a Rockets line, and that is just fine. I enjoy that they are more “real.”

I used to attend my neice’s dance receital (ballet, tap, and hip hop) and some of the very talented girls were heavy, and a lot of people talked behind their back about their weight. I hated the gossip, never participated in it, because they were just kids and teens, and it was a receital, everyone gets to perform, but I do admit to having the opinion that I think the dancing would have been more beautiful to me if those particular girls lost 20 pounds. If I had to pick for a performance or dance troop, their weight would be against them.

@gailcalled From what I have seen of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, their dancers are all thin. I understand your point about body type, I always say I have the typical ballerina body, that is when I am thinner. Longish torsoe, long neck, fairly balanced hips to bust ratio, straight back, tush is a little on the flat side. I blame it on my Eastern European genes. I like my body overall don’t get me wrong, although I do gain weight in my gut when I gain.

^^^ ??? I think I use thin to describe someone with more weight than others.

This question becomes a very different one if you are discussing school students rather than professionals/

@gailcalled I am talking about professionals. But, the students were an example of if they wanted to be professionals, I think they need to lose weight.

I still say people use the word thin differently. To me thin and skinny are not synonomous words.

Instead of using vague terms, why not talk about height, weight, bone-structure and body mass index?

From a health standpoint, yes. Athletes in general tend to put a huge load on their joints – to the point where a figure skater doesn’t typically stay a figure skater past the early twenties. An overweight person puts undue stress on the joints just in the normal course of things, to say nothing of prancing around on a stage.

So, are these guys thin or skinny?

And Nureyev with Miss Piggy, neither of whom can be called skinny. A pas de deux from Swan Lake (sort of). Sorry. it’s “Swine Lake.”

@gailcalled I wrote in my original Q not skin and bones. But, you are right, I probably should have been more specific. I think @wundayatta made a good point too that weight cam be relative.

@gailcalled I just watched your links. Rudolph is thin to me. The puppets in the first link have skinny legs, and the human being is thin to average. Certainly no one is overweight in my opinion.

(^^^I wasn’t being literal with my links. Hope you laughed a little.)

No

No, My wife teaches dance and that is not what it is about, from a visual or coordination element. It takes grace and strength and there is not a direct correlation between grace and strength to size.

I enjoy watching dancers of various sizes perform and have seen incredible skill from different weight ranges—even one overweight pole dancer who is damn good.

What does distract me is costuming choices. Some costumes just don’t work, regardless of size. If the costume is too awkward, it doesn’t matter how good they are as a dancer, I will be distracted if the costume doesn’t work with the dancer.

I dance myself. I’ve seen (and known personally) overweight dancers in which you would kill for their sensitivity and sensuality.

@Pied_Pfeffer The Graeme Norton video is wonderful : ^)