By Justus Flair
Rebecca Ritzel, a freelance writer, wrote an intriguing story for The Washington Post about taller ballerinas and the struggle they face in a field dominated by short women.
Courtney Henry, a 6-foot tall African American ballet dancer who just may be the tallest professional female dancer in the United States, is profiled in the beginning of the piece. Ritzel described how Henry discovered ballet and the ensuing demand for her to be better than the other dancers; as a tall, African American girl surrounded by short, Caucasian dancers, she said she stuck out a bit.
The story expanded into an in-depth look at an upcoming performance of Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, a company that features a variety of tall dancers. Many other companies only accept taller dancers in their principal roles, Ritzel said, as they will stick out too much from the chorus.
In concluding the story, Ritzel describes King’s method of choreography and how it differs from creating dances for ballerinas of typical height.
By giving readers a specific person to connect with, Ritzel draws the audience into the story and keeps them engaged. As they read about Henry’s struggle as an awkward, gangly child, they wish for her to find a place to belong. When she finally finds a sport she enjoys in dance, she still feels like an outcast, which compels the reader to continue with the article, to determine how she came to be a professional dancer.
The story features quotes from Henry and Meredith Webster, a 5-foot-10-inch dancer with LINES, as well as Alonzo King, head of the dance company. Ritzel used their quotes effectively to move the story and explain the nature of tall dancers’ plights, but she only spoke to people within LINES, making it seem a bit too much like an advertisement. She mentioned two primary dancers with the New York City Ballet who are both 5-foot-9, but did not speak to either woman or mention the challenges they faced on their journey to their elite positions.
Ritzels fails to mention anything about height or height expectations for male dancers. She mentions that King first paired Henry with a male dance partner who was shorter than her, but does not clarify if his height is average among his profession. The focus of the story is the towering height of some female ballerinas, but background information of the height of male ballet dancers would have given readers more perspective. By ignoring the question, Ritzel closes a whole list of other potential story ideas. For example, is it harder for male dancers to dance with taller ballerinas? Are male dancers intimidated by dancing with taller partners? What is the height of their ideal partner? Do very tall male dancers experience any of the same struggles? What about shorter than average males?
Despite these few flaws, Ritzel chose an interesting topic that had not been covered by many publications and covered it in an uplifting way, making it easy for readers to comprehend and intriguing to read. Overall, the story was well-written and well reported, if a bit narrow.
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