In a bold—and deeply polarizing—move, The Royal Ballet School is pivoting away from ballet’s centuries-old ideal of the waiflike ballerina. In its place? A vision of inclusivity: plus-size dancers, same-gender partnerships, and a philosophy that says ballet should reflect the diversity of the world it performs for.
This shift isn’t occurring in a vacuum. The school is still weathering the aftershocks of a highly publicized body-shaming scandal, in which a former student described a teacher tracing parts of her body in front of peers and saying, “If I had a knife, this is what I would cut off.”
That student, Ellen Elphick, now 31, says the trauma contributed to years of body dysmorphia and disordered eating. The school reached a financial settlement, but accepted no liability—a quiet conclusion to a very loud reckoning.
Now, with Artistic Director Iain Mackay at the helm, the London-based institution is clearly trying to write a new chapter. In an interview with The Times, Mackay declared the school’s openness to dancers of all sizes and confirmed that plus-size ballerinas “absolutely” have a place on stage.
“Dancers that can tell a story, but dancers that are incredibly capable technically,” he explained. He also predicted an uptick in same-gender partnerships—“male, male” and “female, female” pairings—which, he argued, would not only broaden artistic possibilities but help “create new audiences.”
Not surprisingly, the reaction has been electric—and split right down the center. Supporters applauded the school for reimagining the art form in a way that welcomes those who’ve long been told they don’t belong. “Dance is for everybody,” one supporter wrote. Another added, “I can’t wait to see them perform and shut the lot of you up.”
But others weren’t so enthusiastic. On social media, critics derided the move as “impractical,” “gross,” and “another art form about to be ruined.” One user sneered, “You’d need a very strong man to lift a plus size like they do in ballet,” while a Times op-ed pulled no punches with its headline: “No one wants to see a fatty at the ballet.”
Actor George Keywood pushed back against that view, praising dancers like Lizzy Howell, a plus-size teen from Delaware who gained global recognition for her ballet videos.
“What she’s capable of doing for her size is actually quite baffling,” he said. “We’re not encouraging obesity—we’re encouraging her to be happy and perform with a good skill that she has.”
