Dance Magazine: In an industry with strict physique expectations, Colleen Werner is forging an alternate path—an adult dance experience that celebrates body diversity. While studying to become a clinical mental health counselor in Nashville, she's simultaneously dancing with Black Sheep Ballet, a virtual company that aims to bring ballet to more diverse audiences.
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It makes me happy to see that progress is being made in terms of representation of diverse body types for dancers. Ballet especially is seen as a dance style only thin people can do, and often pushes dancers to restrict food intake or excessively exercise to achieve an unnaturally low weight & small frame. Colleen Werner is pushing against this standard, and I appreciated her explanations of changes that need to be made to make ballet more inclusive, such as the word choices of teachers when explaining techniques. Her experience in the psychology field is clearly foundational in her activism, as she identifies the specific reasons dancers face mental health issues. It’s amazing to hear that young children see her dancing and feel more confident in their own abilities and potential in the world of dance; I know from personal experience that being a bigger kid in a dance class is an isolating feeling and I would have loved to see Colleen speaking out.
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