Creating a Recovery Culture in Dance
Culture plays an integral role in our relationships, beliefs, and behaviours. As the term ‘diet culture’ becomes more common, society is gaining a deeper understanding of how diet-related social norms contribute to the increasing prevalence of eating disorders in Australia. Simultaneously, there is increasing focus on the influence of sporting culture on athlete’s physical and mental health in research and media. This is particularly relevant for dancers, where sport and diet culture frequently overlap. In our latest post, we looked at dance culture, diet culture, and how individuals, institutions and industry can build a Recovery Culture to support dancers to overcome eating disorders.
Dance culture
Dance is strongly defined by its culture. Dancer’s often feel a sense of social connection and community within their peers, institutions, and broader industry. This culture is built and maintained by a range of factors. The social nature of dance often facilitates shared experiences of training, composition, and performance, fostering connections amongst peers. Dancers also often share common personality traits and values, including both sensitivity and diligence. Despite the broad spectrum of dance genres and participants, the identity of being a dancer is shared by many.
However, with culture also comes normalisation. Cultures are characterised by common beliefs and behaviours, which may appear peculiar or concerning to individuals outside of that culture. In this way, behaviours become normalised within culture. An example of this in dance culture is discipline. Within training and rehearsal, discipline is often associated with improvements in technique, fitness or performance. It is considered ‘normal’ for a dancer to be disciplined. However, this discipline can often extend to other aspects of a dancer’s life, such as eating and exercise. While this may be unintentional, it is one of the many factors making dancers susceptible to eating disorders. Compounded by an emphasis on leanness within dance culture, disordered eating behaviours or signs of undernutrition are often normalised. Behaviours or changes which would usually cause concern, such as weight loss, obsession with food, increased injuries, or loss of menstruation are considered a ‘normal’ part of being a dancer. Normalisation colludes with the eating disorder, deceiving dancers into believing that such behaviours are safe or that they are not sick enough to deserve support.
Diet culture
Dance is also influenced by, and intertwined with, broader social culture. This includes diet culture, a term used to describe eating behaviours which aim to control ones body shape. It includes behaviours such as dieting, “clean eating”, calorie counting, and restriction of specific foods or food groups. Where it differs from dieting alone is that diet culture also observes behaviours between individuals and within broader society. For example, the involvement of social media in propagating diet culture materials (e.g. ‘What I Eat in a Day’ videos or blogs).
Diet culture places over-emphasis on individual’s ability to control their shape using food, and offers consumers the chance to supposedly ‘take control’ of their life through food choices. In this way, it is often disguised with wellness culture. An example of this includes eating behaviours by consumers to control other aspects of their life, such as gastrointestinal health, energy levels or appetite. By emphasising individuals abilities to control their lives through food, diet culture prompts us to attach our values and identity to eating behaviours. This often leads to severe distress when individuals are unable to maintain these eating patterns - breaking a food rule or ‘slipping up’ on a diet is seen a personal failure.
All athletes, including dancers, are influenced by diet culture. Dancers are particularly vulnerable, not only due to the intense focus on aesthetics and leanness ideals, but also the normalisation of dieting within dance culture. The insulating effect of both dance and diet culture makes it extremely difficult both for dancers to recognise disordered eating behaviours and seek help. Once dancers do seek help, dance and diet culture create ongoing barriers to recovery. One way to build resilience against this is to create a Recovery Culture.
Nurturing a Recovery Culture
Recovery culture creates a supportive space for individuals recovering from an eating disorder, and prevent the development of eating disorders in others. It pushes back against diet culture, and is driven by body acceptance, intuitive eating, and non-judgement. There is no right or wrong way to create recovery culture, and it can be applied at any scale. For the individual, recovery culture can be created within a single support person or amongst a group of friends. On a broader scale, recovery culture can be implemented within dance institutions and the dance industry.
Recovery culture amongst peers
Culture is created through people and interactions. With this in mind, the close bonds between dancers can be used to help form a recovery culture. For example, an individual might identify one friend or a group or peers with whom they feel comfortable discussing their recovery. This creates a support network for the individual, providing space to share their feelings, challenges and accomplishments throughout recovery without judgement. If this group includes other dancers, it can also create an opportunity to reflect on and challenge dance culture.
Other examples of how individuals can create recovery culture with their peers include:
Set aside time for regular check-ins with your peer/s
Share your goals of recovery with your peer/s. This may help them support and motivate you on difficult days.
Create a plan with your peer/s on how they can support you when you are feeling distressed. For example, planning who you will contact, how, and what you will do together.
Celebrate any victories with your peer/s, even those which would not seem relevant to others. If it’s a victory to you, it’s a victory.
Join your peer/s in activities with you enjoyed before the eating disorder entered your life, particularly those not related to food or body shape. Examples include social sports, painting, or creating a small book club.
You may wish to complete food challenges with a peer/s, such as cooking and sharing a new meal together.
If your support network involves dancers, they may help you implement healthy behaviours throughout training and performance. For example, establishing a routine of eating a post-training meal together, arriving to and leaving class together to prevent over-training, or using one another for verbal feedback instead of mirrors while practicing.
Choose new clothes or dancewear together as your body changes with recovery. Both recovering and non-recovering bodies change constantly, and purchasing new clothes together can help you accept your body.
Check in with your peer/s to ensure their own emotional needs are being met.
Ensure that your peer/s are aware that they can press pause and step outside of your recovery culture if they need to. Understand that they are not giving up on you, but that they may not to protect their own mental health so that they can continue to support you long term.
Recovery culture in institutions
Recovery culture can also be created within dance institutions, from private studios and high schools up to tertiary training facilities and dance companies. These settings often include teachers and coaches who can have an influential role on the behaviours of dancers both during and outside of class, including the culture created amongst peers.
Speaking with dancers who are recovering from an eating disorder can be difficult. Organisations such as The InsideOut Institute provide resources for carers recommending helpful and unhelpful ways to speak with someone about their eating disorder, which may also help teachers, choreographers and staff (here).
Create boundaries between dance and home life. Coaching dancers to apply diligence and discipline can be effective in the context of training and rehearsal, but such behaviour should be confined to these settings. Promoting rest, recovery and refuelling outside of training may prevent dancers from applying rigidity to elements of their home life, such as eating.
For further information about dance teachers can support students, read our How-to Guide for Dance Teachers Supporting Recovery here.
Recovery culture within industry
Finally, the broader culture of the dance industry must also be shifted to support dancers in recovery. This includes, but is not limited to, social networks, media coverage, and advertisement. The industry determines how dancers are represented in society, which significantly impacts on how dancers perceive themselves and what is acceptable, healthy and ‘normal’ behaviour for a performing artist.
Eating disorders thrive on secrecy, and the first step in creating recovery culture is to generate conversation. Examples of how the industry can disrupt the beliefs of dance and diet culture include:
Starting conversation does not necessarily need to address eating disorders directly. Simple acts such as introducing body-positive discourse can help generate discussion about body imagine in dancers, helping to shift culture. For example, using the Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV) Body Peace Zone poster in workplaces, training facilities or social media to advocate for awareness of body image disturbance.
Challenge the normalisation of disordered eating behaviours among dancers. This includes resolving misconceptions about what eating disorders are, what it can look like, who can be impacts, and how to access support.
Identify help-seeking barriers present for dancers, such a company contracts, funding available for mental health care, waitlists, work hours, availability of on-site services, and stigmatisation.
Create partnerships and collaborate with eating disorder organisations, such as The Butterfly Foundation.
Share and promote the stories of dancers and other athletes who have spoken out about their eating disorders.
Promote changing body amongst dancers, including pregnancy, menopause, injury, aging, and changes in shape. Normalise the changing of bodies throughout careers, and that a dancer’s appearance does not reflect their ability.
Promote diversity of body size, shapes and colours amongst dance cohorts, companies, educators, and staff. This can include employing, highlighting the work of, or facilitating workshops with dancers in larger bodies. Diverse Dancers Australia has a Diverse Artists Directory to help.
Everyone is, and can be, repsonsible for fostering a recovery-positive environment for each other.
