Dear Diary,

It’s happening again. First it was singer Tinashe telling people to do “changements” for 15 minutes. Then it was Elle Fanning doing “Pique turns” for Vanity Fair. Tired of me ranting about it? Well, I’m tired of seeing it. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the exposure and love for ballet. It seems pretty apparent now that there are plenty of celebrities who adore ballet and can find some personal or physical value in the art form. I totally get it. It’s beautiful, it keeps you in shape, it feels good to work hard, you took some classes when you were 8 and you’re really excited about it. You made a lot of money playing the voice of a ballerina in an animated film. Live your life, I would never begrudge you. BUT DON’T teach people how to do something you don’t know how to do. I know it’s tempting, I mean the President is doing it, but it doesn’t make it right. If an amateur singer was online making tutorials and howling, they would never hear the end of it. If an amateur athlete was teaching people how to play football, and they didn’t know how to throw a ball, it would be a scandal. I think the problem is that ballet is not something that’s constantly in the public eye. It’s not something that the average person is exposed to, like music or sports, and thus it’s easy for celebrity imposters to pass for the real thing. “Oh it’s someone pretty doing something pretty (in the wrong position on a bent knee about to break an ankle), it must be ballet ! Can’t wait for more tutorials from Elle!” Umm no, that’s not how it works. Elle is LEARNING how to dance. She’s not ready to be TEACHING anyone anything. It’s offensive and it needs to stop. It creates a mockery out of something that requires an intense amount of training and technique. I don’t care if it’s your recreational activity and life passion. Stay in your lane and no one gets hurt. On your bent leg with your doorknob bun. It’s dangerous. Thank you for trying to make ballet relatable and something that anyone can do. The thing is, it’s not. Did you get that Vanity Fair? Sorry, not sorry.

Xoxox,

Mad Swan