Ballet dancer stats. The ARE different from the rest of us, says the U.K. paper, The Telegraph Options

[bart]

In today's Links section, dirac has a link to some interesting statistics aboput ballet dancers, including some interesting comparisons with the rest of us. The size of the rate of smoking among dancers -- and of their pain thresholds -- were the big surprises for me.

Any thoughts?

* 45 the percentage of professional ballet dancers who are smokers

* 110 lb (7 stone 12 pounds): the weight reached by prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova which led to her firing from the Bolshoi Ballet

* 12 the age at which most girls are considered old enough to go on pointe

* 4350 the number of students at the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, the biggest ballet school in the world

* 80 per cent: the injury rate among professional dancers in Britain

* 100kg/15 stone: the minimum weight requirement for ballerinas in the Big Ballet, a Russian dance company

* 3 The pain threshold of ballerinas is 3 times higher than that of non-ballerinas

* 7 Ballet dancers are 7 times more likely to suffer from anorexia than non-ballerinas

* 22,000 the annual wage, in pounds, of second year corps de ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet

* 29 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1990s

* 40 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1980s

* 71 the age that Charin Yuthasastrkosol was when she won the Guinness World Record for oldest performing ballerina

P.S. At the bottom of the page, there was a link to another story: "THE SECRET LIVES OF DANCERS," which focuses on Royal Ballet dancers Lauren Cuthbertson, Rupert Pennefather, and Mara Galeazzi.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre...of-dancers.html

There is lots of stuff about training, aches and pains, work conditions, etc., rather like you might find in Dance Magazine but a lot more detailed and (to be honest) more penetrating.

[cubanmiamiboy]

* 4350 the number of students at the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, the biggest ballet school in the world

(IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/clapping.gif)

[ami1436]

Regarding the second year corps wages at the RB -- London's expensive, but that's more than (okay, I'm basing this off two years ago) an annual entry-level departmental lectureship on Masters Programs in many Universities across Britain.

[bart]

* 22,000 the annual wage, in pounds, of second year corps de ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet

That's $ about $35,557 (U.S.) at current exchange rates. I wonder if they get a housing allowance for London. And let's not forget the cost of cigarettes.

What about this?:

* 29 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1990s

* 40 average retirement age of professional ballerinas in the 1980s

This is a huge change, way out of wack, I should think, with 10-year patterns in other fields. Assuming this is accurate, I wonder what's causing it.

[Helene]

In today's Links section, dirac has a link to some interesting statistics aboput ballet dancers, including some interesting comparisons with the rest of us. The size of the rate of smoking among dancers -- and of their pain thresholds -- were the big surprises for me.

Any thoughts?

* 3 The pain threshold of ballerinas is 3 times higher than that of non-ballerinas

They wear pointe shoes. For me, enough said (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

* 22,000 the annual wage, in pounds, of second year corps de ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet

That's $ about $35,557 (U.S.) at current exchange rates. I wonder if they get a housing allowance for London. And let's not forget the cost of cigarettes.

Unless they were lucky and found a very cheap apartment, $35K is not a lot of money in NYC, since most don't have the option of living far enough out of the city for reasonable rents.

In London, though, that's like living on $22K/year in NYC, because unless you send the GBP to the US, the exchange rate doesn't much help.