Injuries, insecurities, anorexia, imperfect technique. Céline Cassone beat the odds, becoming a star of contemporary ballet.   Photo by Jayme Thornton (3). Benjamin Millepied’s Closer starts with the smallest of gestures: A woman brushes off the floor to rise on demi-pointe, leaning into her partner’s arm. But when Céline Cassone performs it, the force of […]

The weirdest “diet advice” I ever heard in a dance studio was to eat Kleenex. According to a certain 17-year-old, tissues were supposed to fill up your stomach without calories. I never tried the trick (thank goodness). But it comes to mind whenever I think about the desperately complicated relationships dancers have with their bodies. […]