Yesterday I had to call a dancer in my production and tell her not to come to rehearsal until she had eaten. It was so sad but she had passed that line that I know means the disease has hold of her.

I had to tell her that I knew that if she ate she would have a bit of a belly because thats what happens when an anorexic eats finally.. I told her that if I didn't see that little belly, she could not work.

I talked to a close friend who is an acclaimed psychiatrist first and it was his advice, again, as I've had dancers like this before and when I was a teen, a young dancer, I had it for a bit.

I felt badly also because this young girl had been very successful in theater in Seattle for some time until she got to be about 25 when the competition was stiffer because she went pro. She trys so hard and is not really in the league of many of the dancers.

Because she is not as strong of a dancer, her mother came to see me and told me that she had been rehearsing all night, night after night and exercising to extreme limits.

Her mother thought that her thinness was too thin but had not been educated in Anorexia. I gave her a therapists number.

They are strict Mormons. I have no idea if that affects them but I know that the mother does the same thing as the daughter in trying to be perfect! She was perfectly turned out and she too, was thin. She was "cosmetically thin," the kind of person who does not work out to be thin but starves. It is easy to see this if you are a Master Dancer, there are tell tale signs.

She also spoke of her daughters achievements and of her sisters achievements and their goals as if they were do or die about success! I could see where the young woman got her illness!

I have no idea how to get to her mother or her but I recieved a call from her sister saying that she had, indeed, eaten and was sporting a little new belly for the food to fit into!

What do you think? The mother was like talking to sommeone who was brain washed! I don't want to fire this young woman.

Dancer9