bek, i would like to add for the benefit of non-dancers out there, in case it helps their understanding, that in my experience, the words 'womanly' and 'healthy' are serious insults to ballet dancers - when used as in:<P>"My, you're looking healthy!" -> results in total freak-out!!!!!!!!!<P>or<P>"she has a rather 'womanly' figure." -> woops. oh, NOOOO! desperation time again!<P>i also now have enough of a sense of humour to divulge that the first of these WAS said to me - by an active dancer- last year....i smiled, and laughed, and agreed - and i don't know whether her intent was to be catty or just conversational - but it's true anyway - having increased from my dancer's weight by approximately 1/3rd(!) yes - it's true, and NO, i'm NOT giving away numbers! <P>now, at this stage in my life, i CAN laugh about it, even though my new shape and size quite shocks me. <P>i am not what other people consider fat - i am what 'other' people consider healthy (dreaded word! ) - but compared to the shape i have held as my idealised vision of myself, all my life - and kept to - at ANY cost - my current shape, not to mention lack of muscle tone & fitness, etc - is genuinely confronting and quite shocking - to ME.

What was quoted was exactly as taken from ELLE. This was all there was. The commentary is mine.<P>As for the weight thing.<BR>OH BOY....weight till you hit Meno.<P>I had a similar thing happen to me this year.<BR>Preface: I have gained a good 25-30 pounds since I had a hysterotomy. (1996).<BR>Anyway,I went to a celebration for Mr. W. Christensen...where he was getting an award.<P>As I take my seat, an old friend, who was also the dance/ballet critic for one of our two daily newspapers here got up to greet me.<P>"Hi, how are you, I see you have put on some weight"<P>I laughed, and said, yep, damn menopause.<BR>Her friend sitting right next to her, looked at her, absolutely appalled....."oh Dorothy how can you say that!!, how awful"<P>I laughed again, and told the woman not to worry, I knew it, and there was not a thing I was able to do about it.<P>We,(critic D. and I) went on to discuss how at 40 she hit the problems, and finally got it off, but by 55 or 60 it was impossible to do anything about.<P>I agreed, and said, well, at least my face looks good! I don't look like a sickly old dancer.<P>Take a good look at dance teachers who try very hard to retain their "dancing" weight.<BR>They look much older, haggard. It is scary.<BR>So, altho, I look in the mirror and cringe, and won't get on the scale....I know I may be disabled, and not able to move like I used to, but my face looks like I am healthy and well.Most people who saw me, did not comment on the weight, just that I looked so good.<BR>Which was not what I was able to say to them.<BR>They looked tired, ragged, and almost sickly.<P>So......I guess I have to fight back the urge to scream at my overweight, and my size medium pants rather than buying stuff in the kids depts.!!!<P>TOO old to do that anymore.<P>bek<p>[This message has been edited by grace (edited September 16, 2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Take a good look at dance teachers who try very hard to retain their "dancing" weight. They look much older,haggard... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>i agree. i remember auditioning for a teachers course in london years ago, and being introduced to another australian working at the college (as a senior teacher) and thinking/feeling 'i don't want to be her'/'this is not what i want to become'. it made me have doubts about the course, and the choice of teaching.<P>i hadn't seen her teach - it was no reflection on her abilities - it was about lifestyle and self-image: this pinched tight little bird-like creature didn't appeal to my idea of a role model for 'life' at all.

a position statement from the american academy of pediatrics, about female athletes in training: a slight item, but a very good start. brought to my attention at danceart. worth a read.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/septath.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/septath.htm</A>

In our article from the newspaper about this release it said the girls would need to stop training and take time off to regulate their systems.<P>I did not read this article you had a link to. It was only a similar one to what had been posted from our newspaper.<BR>But ours was much more horrific....<BR>And will cause a great stir the way it was worded.<P>bek<p>[This message has been edited by grace (edited September 16, 2000).]

i think, bek, that so often the media is just plain inflammatory.<P>unfortunately i see no solution to this. in the competition for sales and the dollar, how do we avoid such excesses.....?<P>i hate it. especially when any issue is important to me (like animal welfare) and i see them really distorting the information. sometimes it seems like a concerted effort by the whole lot of them to put a particular spin or slant on an issue, and just keep banging away at it - even when it's counter to the facts. the 'facts' can be so boring!<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>it said the girls would need to stop<BR> training and take time off to regulate their systems.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>assuming they were talking here about girls with established amenorrhea, therefore at serious risk of osteoporosis, etc....would you feel differently? (sorry that i am having to 'assume' - i hope i'm not misrepresenting the newspaper article.)

OTOH (i've been waiting for a chance to use that abbreviation....), try this on for 'size'!<BR> <A HREF="http://www.smh.com.au/news/0009/21/text/features4.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.smh.com.au/news/0009/21/text/features4.html</A>

here's a sample from the above linked article:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Most of the faddish diet talk of the newspapers, and even the medical journals, is ill-founded. - - -<P>Being fat is not in itself bad for you. - - -<P>"As with so many other aspects of healthism, the mythology of the couch potato has little factual basis. The large and steady increases in fatness have taken place while exercise has generally been increasing, not decreasing." - - -<P>Throw out the chocolate bars, and buy good chocolate; throw out the muesli and eat good bread and fruit; throw out the margarine and eat good butter and olive oil. Throw out the vitamins and supplements - period. Eat for taste and pleasure.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>being a chocolate connoisseur, i particularly appreciate his advice on quality chocolate!