There must be a few real ballerinas on this board...

I can't speak to the life of a ballerina in New York, but I know a few dancers. They tell stories of some pretty horrific backstabbing and underhanded behavior ...costumes sabotaged and whatnot. The jealousy between competitors in a dance company can be ugly.

As to the lost toenail, that's real. I know of one ballerina who would bleed through her toeshoes. Heck, Bindi on DWTS has lost four toenails this season, she says, and she's not even on pointe.

1. I think as in any community there are definitely some crappy people; however, no. At least not the ballerinas who I've had the pleasure of being around. I think that it definitely varies from company to company. I'm sure that at a larger dance company there may be these issues. However, I've danced for my entire life and am at a smaller company now. The competition aspect is definitely there. Everyone wants to be chosen to be featured. But you get the cast list, you sulk for a second, and then you try to do the part that you've been cast as best as you can. I think the hostility towards new girls is true. There is definitely a lot of checking out the competition that happens, but I haven't seen anyone be as nasty as the girls in these ballet movies are actually depicted as being.

2. Yes, they do. They bleed through your shoes, and through your tights. Some people are prone to certain things while others aren't. My sister also dances and her toenails fall off all the time. She's had to drill through her toenails to relieve pressure from blood blisters under the nail. I tend to suffer bruised toenails and blisters. It's why you see young dancers wear flip flops all the time. That way, they're not putting more pressure on their already bruised feet. They learn later, after working with more seasoned dancers that flip flops are awful for your feet and ankles. I hate to seem nonchalant, but most of us have been en pointe since around 13 years old. We're used to the pain. Lots of Advil helps and just making sure that you're taking care of your feet so that they can heal as fast as possible.

I have two daughters who've danced all their lives and have also danced professionally, although certainly not at the NYC level. I know people who have apprenticed with ABT though, and have been in the corps of national ballets and even one principal dancer of a major city ballet. And there's no getting around it, it's an insanely tough life. To go far, you've got to have extremely thick skin and an incredible personal drive that doesn't have anything to do with financial reward. But this show is like a caricature of the dance world, dancers and management both. The creative director? Oh my god, that guy is a sadistic buffoon. Honestly, both of my daughters feel this show is ridiculous as far as depicting the lives of dancers. Dancers certainly have issues to deal with that most people don't, mainly with their bodies, and yes, the competition is steep, but it's certainly not as extreme as portrayed on this show. Above all, dancers in NYC are human beings and will have the same issues anyone else living and working in NYC might have, one of the most competitive cities on the planet.

As for the feet. Yes, I can say that's not at all an exaggeration. The damage these girls do to their feet and their bodies is mind boggling. Both of my daughters who are still very young women, have issues with their feet, hips, achilles, etc. that no one their age should have.

As a parent I've often wondered if it was a mistake to let them dance, even though they KNEW they wanted it from a very young age. But I think the pay offs are worth the physical costs. They are confident, poised, elegant young women who have terrific memories for detail, which I have no doubt comes from their training. Scenes like the 32 bar adagio that the director made the lead character perform on the spot are a pretty accurate depiction (although she only did one side) of what a dancer can remember in just one quick verbal run-through, and that training helps when you need to remember other sequences of things. Dance not only exercises the body, it exercises the mind. I had a teacher tell me once that she could usually tell when her students had dance training. That they were poised and confident and handled themselves well when they got in front of the class, no matter how shy they might be in real life. So yeah, for that, dance education has a lot of rewards.

But back to this show. I'm not sure I'm going to watch it again. It's certainly NOT a show about dance. Dance is just a backdrop for very dark material depicting the worst things in life. Incest, shame, an ego maniacal fascist of a boss who pimps his employees out.

Not only is the director's acting over the top ridiculous, imo, the dialogue is just awful. We found it almost painful sitting through the first show. It was just beyond boring and the way the dance aspects were portrayed made it unbelievable to my dancers, so I'm thinking this show doesn't really have a lot to do with dance, other than the writer wanted to do a show about the subject and the people in charge said it'll never fly unless you give us a story with grit, which is what we've got here. Too bad it casts dancers in such a grotesque light.

And if there is a dancer reading these boards . . . what is the approximate salary for a ballet dancer at a NY company? Do the dancers take bar/restaurant side jobs to make a living?

1. It's a drama, emphasis on drama. But yes in general, the ballet world is more cutthroat than even the fashion industry.

2. *beep* yes it's that brutal, if your body even makes it past 18. MIssing toenails is small compared to dancing on broken toes, stress fractures, etc...

Can anyone say why ballerinas wear leg warmers? Do they actually have a purpose. No offense, but it looks like a cliche. In one episode, Claire was only wearing one. Looked dumb.

I just wasn't made for these times. (Brian Wilson)

"Mean Girls on pointe" is my nick name for this hysterical series which I watched for the dancing. Having grown up as a teen in a ballet studio run by retired professional dancers, the behavior depicted in this series was never allowed, the women and men who studied were just that kind of bitchy horrible catty personalities which seems to be the cliche for today's films. In a professional company I am sure there is the acting out and childish behavior, but these people have to work and travel together, so this would not be tolerated. Sure there are jerks, but they are on the fringes.

As for dancer's feet -- scary ugly! Bunions, corns, bleeding blisters, black toe nails, no toe nails, and so on. My teacher didn't even have closed toeshoes, she just wore her old one's till the damn things wore out and were open at the ends. Her feet were so strong, she just didn't need the support any longer. She called her feet her "platforms". My feet suffer still from my years of class, but nothing compared to my mother's feet, she danced for decades. I used to call her toes her claws.

-- What would Joan say? --

I think in ANY company, even at McDonald's, there is competition and gossiping. But I have never encountered anything like the bitchiness that's presented here. I only watched a few episodes and finally had to bail.

The bitchy, backstabbing ballerinas, the creepy dance director with a god complex, the homeless guy living under the stairs, the incestuous brother etc etc etc. It just doesn't seem believable. I'm know there are characters like this in the world, but in a TV drama you have to whittle down the freaks and bitches and include some people the audience can root for and identify with. When everyone is vicious, a victim and/or crazy it's a downer.

But the dancing is lovely. I just wish they would dance more and talk less.