Is being the short male lead equivalent to being the fat ballerina?

V

VronskyWasSoVain

Active Member
I somehow stumbled upon this article as I was googling around about short male dancers and all the inherent aesthetic disadvantages.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...good-but-shes-big-my-years-as-a-fat-ballerina

It's a heartbreaking story and I truly feel for the author. In many ways, I can totally relate too but from a male perspective. I've always been short. I am only 5'5. Add to that being a visible minority. Although I don't have nearly the courage or the talent of the author as I'm just someone doing ballroom dancing and going to minor competitions, I am already feeling the inadequacy of my genetics. In addition to being short, my body isn't well proportioned either. The length of my legs and torso are roughly the same.

My teachers compliment me on how well I move and how fast I'm learning. I only started about a year and a half ago and they told me I'm progressing at a rapid rate. My instructor in particular says I'm because I'm relatively young, fit and athletic, I have the potential to become "really good." I've always had a case of impostor syndrome and so I was always skeptical.

However, all I need to is take a look at some of the other male leads and their taller height and tall legs and its discouraging. I'll never have that grace and elegance that they have simply because I'm not built that way. In a lot of ways, I actually move better than them. Because of my shorter limbs, I have more control and am more agile and I can execute some advanced steps with speed and precision that the taller leads cannot. Yet, it doesn't look as good aesthetically. And there isn't much I can do.

In order to achieve any sort of aesthetic quality, I have to put in extra efforts in exaggerating my steps. For example, in the waltz dances, really exaggerating the rise and falls in a dramatic fashion and just a lot more styling. The other guys don't have to do that. Their tall, slim physiques and long legs just have a natural elegance.

The world wasn't built fair for everyone. In many ways, I'm fortunate to even be ballroom dancing. A lot of people want to do it but they don't have the financial resources to do so. I'm in a position at my life where I can really excel in it and I should be grateful. I guess I should just focus on that. Dance for myself. Dance has been such a positive force in my life and I shouldn't let my short height, something I've dealt with my entire life, get the hold of me. But it's easier said than done.

Just like how women are judged by their weight, men are judged for their height. It permeates every aspect of one's life.
 
VronskyWasSoVain said:
.. I'm fortunate to even be ballroom dancing..
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You are fortunate and you are caught at the same time, Vronsky. In the ballroom world others will always define the standards, will benchmark you against others, set aesthetics, praise and condemn you.
In the wilderness of the independent dance world you are able to set your own standards, you are the director of your evolution.

Aoniken Quirog is a highly gifted dancer. In ballroom tango he surely would have failed, but he is a star in the argentine tango world.

​
 
Maybe look into doing some of the latin or rhythm dances. Shorter, more compact dancers seem to have an advantage in dances like the jive.
 
I know a lot of short Asian men who look very good and place very well in open-level amateur competition. In latin/rhythm, being short is no problem at all (world champ Riccardo is something like your height). In standard/smooth, yes, being tall gives one an aesthetic edge on the floor that might be something to take into account if you were choosing a style to specialize in as a high level professional. As a beginning competitor, OK, maybe it makes a little bit of difference, but everyone has some things working for them and other things working against them. (Some of those tall skinny people are elegant; plenty of others are gawky.) Of course, you already say that you know the advantages you have, so you don't need me to preach at you. I hope you're able to spend most of your time focused on those.
 
Yesterday during the heats at the Harvest Moon Ball, some of the pros were short. Some were tall. I wouldn't say tall looks better than short, at least not for rhythm.

I'm not sure how to describe this. But based on physics, short should have an edge in looking "snappy" for rhythm. Provided you do learn to wait and keep your feet grounded during cuban motion, the time constant for the 'swing' is shorter for shorter legs. That means using gravity, the 'natural' part of swinging or snapping leg motion-- meaning the part that doesn't have to do with you actually using your muscles to move the leg is a faster swing. That tends to make things automatically 'snappier' with little muscle action. ( Yes. I'm an engineer. So the dance part of my explanation will sound stupid, but the physics part is right. )

It might be a little different for smooth since for slower tempos, it's plausible that having a slower time constant for rise and fall might be better. I've been spending more time on rhythm. When I do more smooth, I'll have a better notion of whether this really matters for smooth.
 
In order to achieve any sort of aesthetic quality, I have to put in extra efforts in exaggerating my steps. For example, in the waltz dances, really exaggerating the rise and falls in a dramatic fashion and just a lot more styling. The other guys don't have to do that. Their tall, slim physiques and long legs just have a natural elegance.
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As a short woman with a short pro, in rhythm we didn't have as much of a problem and could make ourselves stand out with a bright costume and snappy moves and good choreography, not to mention picking a spot away from other people.

However, in smooth now, you are correct, we have to do more to stand out. Pro makes sure we cover every single inch of the floor that our short little legs can carry us to, in addition to technique and styling.
 
Well I guess I'm screwed then. Currently, I'm heavily interested in smooth. My rhythm stuff will return at some point but right now, I'm just in a phase of loving tangos, waltzes and such.

I don't think I look that bad dancing smooth despite my height. I've seen videos of myself. I've learnt to "glide" across the dance floor and doing better with technique and styling to make it look as elegant as possible. But yeah, I'll never look as good as those tall guys with long legs.
 
Dude, you're only "screwed" if your goal is to win at the highest level of competition. The average female height is 5'4" for women in the US. Why be so dramatic about everything?

Edit to add:
25th percentile is under 5'2".
AVERAGE height for Asian women is under 5'2".
 
@David_D
Why do you assume I'd only be dancing with Asian women? Most asian women in the US would rather be with white guys due to status and as a way of fitting in. As an asian male who was born in North America,
I don't even associate with Asian women but primarily with white women (due to the fact that I live in an area where it's mostly caucasian).
I would never purposely target an Asian women for either dance or for dating, knowing what they prefer.
 
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Nothing I said came close to implying that you'd only dance with Asian women. I'm just pointing out that if you'd drop your preconceptions that you apply to women, you'd find plenty of follows who are under your height.
According to the CDC, women in the US average 5'4". This is shorter than you.

In fact, for every group except "non-Hispanic White" and Black, the average woman's height is 5'2" or less. (CDC data, the reason for the weird demographic naming). This is 3 inches shorter than you. If you think you're screwed unless your dance partner is a white woman, you have only yourself to blame. Keep in mind, you don't need many competition partners, and in social dancing no-one is going to care if you and your partner are not perfectly aesthetically matched.
 
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There are a couple of very short men in my Tango community, it didn't slow them down, they dance every song. We have also had some unusually tall women come through, taller than all but one or two of the men. It didn't seem to slow down the men asking them, including the short men.
 
VronskyWasSoVain said:
Well I guess I'm screwed then. <snip>
I don't think I look that bad dancing smooth despite my height. I've seen videos of myself. I've learnt to "glide" across the dance floor and doing better with technique and styling to make it look as elegant as possible. But yeah, I'll never look as good as those tall guys with long legs.
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FOR PITY'S SAKE, STOP WITH THIS ATTITUDE because there is no surer way to sabotage yourself.

Dance what you love. Move with that assurance and glide. Let your technique and styling tell a story of accomplishment, confidence, and joy, and share it with the audience.

Do that, and your height will not make one.damn.bit of difference. You will never disappear, not even in a forest of tall trees.
 
The most joyful dancers I know are a pair of senior champ 10-dancers; him in particular. I have never seen him on the comp floor without a genuine smile on his face, and that energy draws the eye and is contagious; I'm smiling right now thinking of them. He's maybe my height (5'3"). They're among my role models for the dancer I want to be when I grow up.
 
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