Sugar Plump Fairy

Of the performance, Macaulay wrote:

This didn’t feel, however, like an opening night. Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many; and Jared Angle, as the Cavalier, seems to have been sampling half the Sweet realm.

“One sugar plum too many”? Are you kidding us? And as if that wasn’t mean enough, here’s some background on Ringer — a few excerpts from from a Dance Magazine article in the November 2001 edition:

But even as her career was taking off, her self-esteem was plummeting. If weight gain and injuries are the twin demons of a dancer’s career, Ringer was about to deal with both.

Stressed out from her hectic schedule, Ringer became physically and emotionally depleted. She says, “I would be so tired and I would think, ‘If I eat that extra–whatever–it would give me more energy the next day.'” Early in 1996, Ringer suffered a severe back injury that sidelined her for nine months. When she came back, she was heavier and began to lose parts. The company tried to put her in costumes with more coverage, but soon even that wouldn’t work. “It was mortifying,” says Ringer. “Dancing had become anathema for me.” At the close of the 1997 summer season, she left NYCB by mutual agreement, with the caveat that the door was always open.

As Ringer shed pounds, she gained confidence. Before she left the company, James Fayette, a soloist with NYCB, had asked her to perform the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker for the New Paltz Ballet Theatre in upstate New York. In late 1997, he called to remind her that it was time to start rehearsing. Ringer tried to beg off, protesting she was still too heavy and out of shape, but Fayette insisted. For the next few months, she and Fayette performed around the tri-state area (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey).

I feel for this girl but I wanted to be a Prima Ballerina and they are incredibly strict on height, body type, and especially weight due to the beauty of the choreography. Five feet eight inches tall is NOT considered tall in the Ballet World. Have you ever seen a short and/or big boned ballerina?? You must have long limbs, long legs and lean torso on the shorter side, long neck etc. Ballet is a field for the chosen few. This man could have been more tactful but unfortunately, it is a fact that being skinny is mandatory for the New York City Ballet regardless of how great a dancer you are.

What are your thoughts?

One thought on “Sugar Plump Fairy

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