4 replies to this topic

[bart]

In today's Links section, dirac has a link to some interesting statistics aboput ballet dancers, including some interesting comparisons with the rest of us.  The size of the rate of smoking among dancers -- and of their pain thresholds -- were the big surprises for me.

Any thoughts?

    

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* 45 the percentage of professional ballet dancers who are smokers

    * 110 lb (7 stone 12 pounds): the weight reached by prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova which led to her firing from the Bolshoi Ballet

    * 12 the age at which most girls are considered old enough to go on pointe

    * 4350 the number of students at the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, the biggest ballet school in the world

    * 80 per cent: the injury rate among professional dancers in Britain

    * 100kg/15 stone: the minimum weight requirement for ballerinas in the Big Ballet, a Russian dance company

    * 3 The pain threshold of ballerinas is 3 times higher than that of non-ballerinas

    * 7 Ballet dancers are 7 times more likely to suffer from anorexia than non-ballerinas

    * 22,000 the annual wage, in pounds, of second year corps de ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet

    * 29 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1990s

    * 40 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1980s

    * 71 the age that Charin Yuthasastrkosol was when she won the Guinness World Record for oldest performing ballerina

P.S.  At the bottom of the page, there was a link to another story:  "THE SECRET LIVES OF DANCERS," which focuses on Royal Ballet dancers Lauren Cuthbertson, Rupert Pennefather, and Mara Galeazzi.

http://www.telegraph...of-dancers.html

There is lots of stuff about training, aches and pains, work conditions, etc., rather like you might find in Dance Magazine but a lot more detailed and (to be honest) more penetrating.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart, on Jun 29 2009, 04:28 PM, said:

* 4350 the number of students at the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, the biggest ballet school in the world

[ami1436]

Regarding the second year corps wages at the RB -- London's expensive, but that's more than (okay, I'm basing this off two years ago) an annual entry-level departmental lectureship on Masters Programs in many Universities across Britain.

[bart]

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* 22,000 the annual wage, in pounds, of second year corps de ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet

That's $ about $35,557 (U.S.) at current exchange rates.  I wonder if they get a housing allowance for London.   And let's not forget the cost of cigarettes.

What about this?:

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* 29 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1990s

* 40 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1980s

This is a huge change, way out of wack, I should think, with 10-year patterns in other fields. Assuming this is accurate, I wonder what's causing it.

[Helene]

bart, on Jun 29 2009, 04:28 PM, said:

In today's Links section, dirac has a link to some interesting statistics aboput ballet dancers, including some interesting comparisons with the rest of us.  The size of the rate of smoking among dancers -- and of their pain thresholds -- were the big surprises for me.

Any thoughts?

    

Quote

    * 3 The pain threshold of ballerinas is 3 times higher than that of non-ballerinas

They wear pointe shoes.  For me, enough said

bart, on Jun 29 2009, 05:39 PM, said:

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* 22,000 the annual wage, in pounds, of second year corps de ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet

That's $ about $35,557 (U.S.) at current exchange rates.  I wonder if they get a housing allowance for London.   And let's not forget the cost of cigarettes.

Unless they were lucky and found a very cheap apartment, $35K is not a lot of money in NYC, since most don't have the option of living far enough out of the city for reasonable rents.

In London, though, that's like living on $22K/year in NYC, because unless you send the GBP to the US, the exchange rate doesn't much help.