In this case the 'people" who misunderstand the meaning of ballet are the recreational- track dance students themselves, mostly teenagers. While whether or not they should be called "dancers" is another controversy altogether, these students have spent much time studying and performing ballet-- yet they have not grasped much beyond the annual recital or dance class.
Generally speaking, their idea of the "ballet world" nowadays comes mostly from movies. More specifically, they think ballet is the movie Center Stage. Everything they know about the professional ballet world: the intensity, the relations between dancers, casting and weight issues, and even the preparations of pointe shoes comes from Center Stage. They take the rivalry they see on-screen and disproportion it to fit life at their studio, so that when another student gets a 4-count featured sequence in the recital dance, they are suddenly "living in a cruel and ruthless ballet world!"
Relationships between dancers are often complex, if not volatile. "Sexual politics have always played a part in ballet," states dance author Adrienne Sharp, "what does it do to the lover and the beloved?" Such issues spawn from mental love/hate relationships based on competition to even physical relationships between partners or company members. As with all people, relationships change over time, but much more so with ballet dancers.
To such students, pointe work is a routine, a once or twice a week regime: releves at the barre, echappes, chaines, and piques. A blister here, a pulled muscle there. A pair of pointe shoes lasts anywhere from a month to a year. Then comes the recital dance, rehearsing their teacher's choreography and anxiously awaiting arrival of costumes. There are no thoughts on whom they are dancing for--that this choreographer gets so bad-tempered in rehearsals, that one has such a unique style, that one can never make up his mind. Aside from short featured roles, there are no issues of casting, no ranking, no promotions or demotions except in the case of class levels.
In some cases, these points would lead to a conclusion that students as opposed to professionals have it easy. They work not more than three times per week, they don't need to worry about their company rank, or how much they make. Fellow dancers are a little more than "friends from dance" (or, in some cases, enemies). Yet to them ballet is just a hobby: something fun, something for the college resume,something that does not consume their life. Pre- professional students usually have a different grasp of ballet because they spend so much time immersed in the art form. To a pre- professional- track student, dance is not just their current life, but their future life as well. They tend to have a better understanding of what goes on in a ballet career, from competition to relationships to intense schedules. Meanwhile, both types of students are aware that ballet is hard work, hard work to achieve beauty. Because, after all, beauty (or the illusion thereof) in itself is a true part of ballet.
