Pirkko Markula, contemporary dancer and professor of socio-cultural studies of physical activity at the University of Alberta in Canada, is in the studio!

She has a Ph.D in kinesiology and major sport sociology from the University of Illinois. Beyond academia, she’s a dancer herself, previously training in the Dance Department at the University of Illinois with an emphasis on Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor,  and José Limón techniques. She is currently a choreographer and dancer for Initial 6, a contemporary dance company for dancers above the age of 40 at the University of Alberta.

Combining her love for movement and academia, one of her areas of research is dance and exercise in contemporary culture, with an emphasis on dance and the aging process. Through her Psychology Today blog, Fit Femininity, she examines how adult ballet dancers discover a new sense of self in a ballet class. A collection of essays Pirkko edited alongside colleagues and students in January 2018, titled “The Evolving Feminine Ballet Body,” explores a range of topics regarding the ways ballet has influenced contemporary culture throughout its evolution. 

In this episode, we discuss how the ideal ballet body - both celebrated and criticized at times - has evolved alongside ballet as an art form, how ballet has contributed to broader cultural narratives, and especially, how body ideals in ballet have influenced societal views of femininity, beauty, and womanhood. Check it out!

**This episode discusses body image and touches on disordered eating, which can be a sensitive topic. That discussion begins around 14:00 and continues until 29:00, for any listeners who want to skip ahead. 

• Follow Pirkko’s Psychology Today blog, Fit Femininity: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fit-femininity
• Check out The Evolving Feminine Ballet Body essay collection: https://a.co/d/3IZotEW
• Read Pirkko’s article, What We Can Learn From Women Who Take Adult Ballet Classes: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fit-femininity/202302/what-we-can-learn-from-women-who-take-adult-ballet-classes 

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Music in this episode:

Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

@eblosfield  | [email protected]

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