Dying to Dance

Dancing is truly considered the nicest art of self expression, aside from music, theater, and painting. But those disciplines cannot rival what dancers often painstakingly do for their art. This movie portrays what happens when intensity goes too far.

18-year old Alyssa Lennox (Kimberly McCullough) was accepted into the Metropolitan Ballet Company in New York City, and moves into the dormatories. The letter she received upon her acceptance says explicitly that they recommended she lose 5 pounds. For the already-skinny Alyssa, losing the weight is no problem--until it becomes addictive. Her weight plummets, and the word anorexia is thrown in her face.

This is truly a disturbing story of pushing yourself to the limit. I was a dancer for fourteen years at local dance schools (from 1987 to 2001, from age 4 to age 18), and studied Ballet and Jazz. I never made it to an advanced level, but I noticed that many of the girls who did pushed themselves hard, but I'm not sure if any of them dieted. They all looked seemingly okay to me, although several of them liked excess (drinking and smoking), and this was in high school. But, I noticed in the one college dance class I took, the girls were skinnier and more intense. I heard stories of asprin addiction. The fact that these girls did not have much free time scared me away from dancing again, besides the teacher who turned me off from it. I'm a Communications major for that reason.

I'm not saying I'm built like a dancer (I'm 5'4", about 125-130 lbs., built slimly but have wider hips than most dancers), but I loved dancing and never would have done what Alyssa did to lose the weight. When my weight hit 135 lbs. two years ago, I worked out and danced and ate right, and my weight dropped SAFELY to 125 lbs. The idea that stuff like this can go on behind closed doors is what truly gauls me. It's hard enough to succeed in dance--it's another thing to pressure someone to lose weight so they'll be perfect. And it wasn't even the parents (thankfully) that did it, but it still disturbs me that a prestigious school would pressure their dancers. Obviously, their skill got them there, and if their weight was never a problem, then leave them along. Some of the most graceful dancers I've seen were slightly overweight.

The acting in this film was good, and I was shocked to see that Rick Springfield, Mr. "Jessie's Girl" himself was playing Alyssa's father. Kimberly McCullough turned in a stellar, solid performance as Alyssa, but seriously, give the girl some food--PLEASE!!!! The mother in the movie was much like my mom when I was dancing--protective but not overbearing. She was a great "stage mom," but didn't push me to be perfect. Because of that, I think I know why I enjoyed dancing so much when I was learning it, and actually was pretty good.

This is a good movie to see if you dance, because it shows what no one should EVER have to go through to be a perfect dancer. Perfection is learning the steps--NOT dieting yourself into emaciation. I think dancers--especially college dancers--should see this movie--it might teach a valuable lesson in how fall you should go when persuing what you love.

I just watched this movie for the first time. I have to say Kimberly McCullough was very convincing. I think she did a fabulous job. I agree the writing may not have been the best, but she did a great job with it.

I loved seeing Rick Springfield in this movie. He was a typical father believing everything his daughter says. Not wanting to admit there was a problem.

I think the mother's reaction was right on target. It is usually the mother who sees the problem first.

I would definitely recommend this movie.

Never mind the serious logic gaps, never mind the achingly cliche character portrayals, never mind the haphazard writing, and you might like this movie. The main character Alyssa was supposed to be endearing, the heroine who you root for to be saved,(or in this case, save herself) But instead she merely grates, and makes one wonder, are all pro ballerinas really that stupid? Her busybody mother was obviously only necessary to further propagate the illusion that ballet companies are evil monsters ready to snatch your poor, innocent, young girl from your grasp, with an ever present, biting artistic director/villain. And the cliche's! Not only does she become anorexic, bulemic, an over the counter junkie, and a pathological liar, but all in the course of a few months. It's like the writer read every horror story he could dig up about ballet and decided to see how much he could cram into two hours, (with commercials).

Believe it or not, but I am a dancer. This "uprising" or "resurgence" of anorexia and bulemia that is happening is nonexistent at all of the dance schools I have attended. In fact, the teachers are so scared to even suggest that a girl might stand a better chance a few pounds lighter, most of the dancers in my classes would be actually considered minorly overweight. I'm not saying eating disorders never occur, but not to the extent as it was portrayed in the movie.

Another annoying problem this movie had was the means-to-an-end writing style. Her on again off again boyfriend probably had all of half an hour total screen time, all in the first half. The other supporting characters were merely props, decorations to further the story. Given the right dialogue, this would have been a very intricate mind study of a psycological problem. As it is, it turns into a one woman show, and Kimberly McCullough doesn't have the chutzpah to pull it off.

To a non dancer, this movie would be a supposed "insight" into what really goes one behind closed doors at a ballet company. To a dancer, this is a very insulting movie, which portrays ballerinas as stupid and parents as pushy and ill informed. Those adjectives more correctly describe the people who got this on the air in the first place. 3/10

Perhaps the portrayal is a little cliched in this movie, and I would agree that the writing is somewhat strained, but I did find it a compelling story of anorexia. I am not a dancer. I do not know what life is like in the world of professional ballet. I am, however, a recovering anorexic. Is it possible to become an obsessed anorexic, desperate to use any and all measures to lose weight and lie to everyone about it in the span of only a few months? Absolutely. I know because it happened to me. I starved myself down to 69 pounds. I kept obsessive journals of every calorie that passed my lips, exercised to the point of exhaustion, and lied to everyone I knew about what was going on. In trying to maintain control of my life, I lost control. That was accurately conveyed in the story, and it brought back a flood of twenty-year-old, painful memories of what I went through. Maybe this movie is an inaccurate portrayal of dancers. But it hits the mark with anorexics. I do wish the writing had had more depth, perhaps exploring Alyssa's psyche a bit more.

the last review says that a dancer wouldn't like this movie. well, i am a dancer, and i did like it.

the last reviewer also said that the weight problem in dance is exaggerated. maybe. i know mostly modern, afro, folk, and jazz dancers who are very healthy. ballerinas, i think, are generally not so well. my college girlfriend could have played alyssa, and she was eating disordered. the best ballerina i have ever seen (and i have been around dance at the highest levels for twenty years) once told me that her ballet school had "unhealthy" attitudes toward weight. she also said that her parents had made her go to counseling. shame on me, but i hadn't put two and two together until i saw this movie. kimberly mccullough looked just like her, too.

it's quite obvious that this movie was produced primarily to do some social engineering. if it happens to entertain some non-dancers, or contain imagery that is appealing to sensitive people, that's fine. but that's not the point. this movie has a very specific target population. i felt that the director did a good job including just the kind of dance scenes that would be irresistible to ballerinas. in fact, the final dance performance, which nearly made me barf with its excessive classicism, is just the kind of fluff that i can see ballerinas gluing their eyes to.

every ballerina i know would have a negative reaction to the message in the movie, and would try to find some kind of artistic fault, or enumerate the personal flaws of kimberly mccullough's character. maybe her dance wasn't to-die-for, or maybe her pretty dancemagazine face wasn't perfectly properly framed by her trendy chop cut. every ballerina i know would dismiss the weight-compulsion theme as overblown, unnecessary, or unrealistic. every ballerina i know would try to defend ballet, saying it's not ballet's problem. that, my little dears, is exactly the problem.

so it's the pinnacle of 90's manipulative, message-laden tv-melodrama? respect and congratulations are owed everyone involved in this film. it's a tear jerker that doesn't play fair because in this battle for little girls' hearts, all's fair in love and war, and the ends justify the means.