Dancers know they need to eat well to fuel their performance. However, pervasive messages from diet culture, combined with dancers’ perfectionistic tendencies, often lead them to label certain foods as “bad.” In addition to damaging your overall relationship with food, dietitians say this habit could lead you to miss out on some real nutritional benefits. […]
You probably wouldn’t follow the cross-training regimen of a football player, or do the same stretches as a soccer star. So are sports supplements aimed at other athletes even useful for high-level dancers? To find out which ones could boost your performance—and which could actually tank your hard work—we spoke with two dancers-turned-dietitians. Protein Powder […]
Stephan Azulay has been helping out in the kitchen ever since he was a kid. “My dad’s a flamenco dancer, and part of the flamenco culture is food,” he says. When he began dancing professionally with Joffrey Ballet Concert Group and then Nevada Ballet Theatre, Azulay looked to restaurants for side gigs—everything from washing dishes […]
The benefits of eating raw fruits and veggies are clear. The nutrients! The fiber! But can an all-raw diet be too much of a good thing? If you’re tempted to try the Instagram trend yourself, proceed with caution. “The evidence in favor of a raw diet is often anecdotal rather than researched,” says Chicago-based registered […]
Seeking control over the uncontrollable is a common coping mechanism we all use when we’re stressed. For dancers, that can manifest as a tendency to overanalyze meals and obsessively monitor daily calorie burn: When weight and body-image anxieties lurk alongside the unfortunate encouragement of those behaviors within our culture, it’s easy to say, “Hey, let […]
Maria Caruso in Metamorphosis Ofir Zaguri, Courtesy Caruso “There’s so much competition for jobs that companies can easily choose dancers with the body types that approach most closely their ideal,” says dance historian Lynn Garafola. She adds that while men do experience certain aesthetic pressures, the range of acceptable body types for male ballet dancers […]
The bad news: “There’s so much about the healing process that dancers don’t have control over,” says registered dietitian nutritionist Tiffany Mendell. One notable exception? How dancers fuel and nourish their injured bodies. To help your body recover, avoid these four common nutritional mistakes. DON’T Eat Too Little In an effort to avoid gaining weight, many […]
Social media is brimming with nutrition advice. But not all of the information is useful—or even safe. Dancers hoping to pick up health-boosting tips on Instagram and other platforms need to make sure they’re listening to the right voices. To help you curate your feed, Dance Magazine asked three experts to shout out a few […]