It's two weeks into my final three months of dance training, and aside from some initial trouble adapting, I think it's going well. However, as the subject mentions, I have yet another pair of pants that my dance boot-ay will no longer fit into. Sigh.
This was upsetting at first - I'm supposed to be in shape, so why am I putting on so much weight? One characteristic of the weight gain is that it's strictly junk-in-the-trunk (and thighs)-based. After thinking for two seconds, it's obvious. The primary stance that we use for dance is called 'aramandi', which is like a ballet plier, but lower and more painful.
This was upsetting at first - I'm supposed to be in shape, so why am I putting on so much weight? One characteristic of the weight gain is that it's strictly junk-in-the-trunk (and thighs)-based. After thinking for two seconds, it's obvious. The primary stance that we use for dance is called 'aramandi', which is like a ballet plier, but lower and more painful.
Goodbye, skinny jeans
If I'm going to be dancing around for 2 hours like this, I'm going to need some ass-based reinforcements.
Even if, logically, I should be gaining weight, I still feel uneasy about it. One of the books I got recently, Diet For Dancers, is certainly not helping to assuage my anxieties. For one, the typical weight range they list for women dancers of my height (5'10"/177cm) is 135-149 lbs (that's roughly 61 to 68 kg). My weight is 156 lbs (mass 70.8 kg) and rising. The book also talks about creepy dance-world practices like trainers feeding their students amphetamines and the popularity of smoking as weight control. Sketchtown.
Body image is definitely one area where Indian dance has western dance beat. There is not typical Bharatanatyam physique. There tend to be patterns - it's certainly not common for dancers to be overweight. But there is no pressure to be skinny while staying fit and strong. Most Bharatanatyam dancers have builds closer to soccer players or track stars, which makes sense given that they're doing an equally stressful activity that demands muscle. I have yet to encounter dancers who obsess about weight and trade frightening diet tips.
Since I'm in this wonderful athletic world free from obsessive body image ideals, I'm trying extra hard to get past my own hang ups. Most of the people I dance with are teenage girls. The last thing I want to do is introduce them all to the world of body image obsession. It smacks a little too much of colonial arrivals bearing their small pox and such.
So here's Bharatanatyam Bootay!
Hiya! I found this post on a google search of "aramandi". I'm preparing for my own arangetram, and I'm guest-blogging about it and needed a good picture of it, so I'm going to link to your post. I hope that's okay!
ReplyDeleteI hope your arangetram went well. If I can get my aramandi half as good as yours is in that picture, my teacher will be happy! :)
And you don't look heavy at ALL in that pic. I'm very dismayed that I'm not losing any weight (I could stand to drop about 20 lbs), but maybe it's just my thighs getting really strong. At least, I hope that's the reason.