But out on the floor, in steadily advancing rows, the dancers work their bodies in patterns that are both meaningful and demanding. That she is the largest person in the room is incidental. Lissy is philosophical about her participation in the dance. It's not about how big you are, it's how you work with it. Not all of her teachers have been as supportive as Victoria, who experienced enough in the jazz and modern dance worlds to know how important a supportive teacher is.
Some people just have it, and some people have to work at it.
Lissy has it. When they see someone who is riding that energy wave, then all barriers fall away. In the Western dance world, unfortunately, those barriers are still there. Though weight standards in professional companies have been abolished in theory, pressure remains high to keep the number on the scale low, especially in ballet. Always large and, she says, always dancing, Alexandra has gotten flak from dance teachers and administrators for as long as she can remember.