Pregnant Dancers Needed for Ballet

Reuters brings news from London of a new ballet lumbering toward stage with a nine month deadline:

LONDON (Reuters)—Far from being heavy, lumbering and clumsy, pregnant women are often fascinating, beautiful and serene, according to the artistic director of one British ballet company. And to prove it, Balletlorent is recruiting 12 pregnant women to star in a dance production alongside six professional ballet dancers.

"MaEternal" will be performed in the northern English city of Newcastle in May and is offering the 12 who get through the auditions "a chance to share with an audience the beauty of what it means to carry the life of another within you."

Artistic Director Liv Lorent, who, coincidentally, is pregnant herself, says she has
always been keen to combine trained dancers with people from all ages and stages in life to make her ballet productions richer. "I've done projects in the past where I have invited all sorts of people—children, old people, builders, footballers doctors, all sorts—to take part," she told Reuters....

She notes the stark contrast between the typically lithe light and muscular physique of a dancer, and the softer, rounder contours of a pregnant woman, and delights in it. "You can't get a 25-year-old size 8 ballet dancer type body to move with the weight, the gravitas or the sheer cheerful spirit a pregnant woman," she said.

Women are beautiful when pregnant. Check. No arguments there. But should they dance ballet? When I go to a football game, I expect football players. When I go to Hooter's I expect the place to live up to its name. And if I'm going to watch a ballet, I would expect a professional dancer, not a pregnant woman waddling about with gravitas.