Alice Robb

Ballet is woman, said George Balanchine, the founder of New York City Ballet. For centuries, being a ballerina has been synonymous with being beautiful, obedient, and feminine. The sexism seems built-in — and the #MeToo movement rocked the ballet world with shocking revelations about harassment, physical abuse, and eating disorders at top schools. But is there a different way of...

Don’t Think, Dear said Balanchine. ‘Just do.’ For centuries, being a ballerina has been synonymous with being beautiful, thin, obedient, and feminine. It is the crucible of womanhood, together with the harassment, physical abuse, and eating disorders endemic at top schools. Can we abide this in a post #MeToo world? Weaving together her own time at America’s most elite ballet...