Royal Ballet School Artistic Director Iain Mackay in media interview

The Times newspaper published an exclusive interview with Iain Mackay, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet School on 13th April 2025, then another contributor penned a column in the same newspaper cancelling it in the following day.

The headline of Mackay's interview, the first media interview after the settlement of the body shaming case, is "Royal Ballet School chief: plus-sized dancers are the future." Click here for the full article (subscription required).

The Royal Ballet School has neither admitted the liability of the body shaming or apologised. The Times interview piece said there may be a few more similar cases coming up. Mackay might have been defensive, he may not mind the headline.

But, I am not sure if Mackay really "declared" it (like Prince Siegfried). The interview reads;

“Audiences want dancers they can relate to,” Mackay said, when asked whether this included plus-sized ballerinas on main stages. “Absolutely … I think this is already happening. They have been required to be more physical than ever before. Dancers that can tell a story, but dancers that are incredibly capable technically.”

That is true. It is already happening. I make custom leotards for professional dancers and they order various different sizes. I read Mackay's words that ballet in the 21st century has accepted dancers come in many shapes and sizes, and that the focus should be on techniques and artistry of dancers rather than their physique. The Royal Ballet School is not an exception.

Aspiring pre-professional ballerinas are aged around 14-17 years and they are physically and mentally in the development stage. They tend to be in the chubbiest points in their lives. At least I was. So, they should not be judged from their immediate appearance and teachers have to look into their future. My ballet teacher body-shamed me, saying I looked "filthy" and she did not want to teach me even though my parents paid for my training. Of course, I gave up on ballet against my will. Now my BMI is just under 18 and I am not on diet. Teachers should not shut down the potentials of the pupils like this.

Then in the following day, I found this column in the same The Times: No one wants to see a fatty at the ballet. It just doesn’t stack up (It is nice to read the author writes that Jonathan Cope was the fittest athlete he has ever met).

No, no one does. But Mackay is a ballet school teacher. Even professional dancers, who look like superhumans, are humans. They are not born overnight. It is a well-known story that Royal Ballet Principal and The Upper School graduate Marianela Núñez weighed more when she joined the company more than twenty years ago. She sculpted her body into the current supreme shape over years of hard work. I have seen many other dancers who were rather chubby when they joined professional companies then their bodies transformed into beautiful athlete-artists.

Let me know what you think.

(Corrected a grammatical error on 2 May 2025)