Like many sports, ballet is one of those athletic art forms that has lacked diversity and inclusivity since its origination in the fifteenth century. However, today, plus size ballerinas have proven that the talent within the dance industry doesn’t rely on snatched waistlines and flat tummies. Instead, it’s about the importance of bodily expression.
Centuries later, in 2024, full-figured women are now showing the world there isn’t a weight limit to twirling on your toes. Through brilliant routines and roaring audiences, these amazing ladies do it effortlessly — one bow and a standing ovation at a time.
Plus Size Ballerinas Do Exist & Here They Are
Colleen Conklin
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Colleen Conklin (formerly Werner) is a professional dancer and licensed mental health therapist in Nashville, Tennessee. According to a 2017 interview with NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association), the self-love advocate began dancing at the tender age of 3. Per Dance Magazine, by the time Conklin hit early-to-mid adolescence, she developed body-image issues and forced herself to diet, which led to a full-blown eating disorder diagnosis at 16.
“Dance can be a great tool for moving through anxiety and depression, but it can also be harmful because it isn’t a space that represents different kinds of bodies,” she told the outlet in 2021. In 2017, Conklin created a hashtag called #BopoBallerina (Body Positive Ballerina) on Instagram, amassing thousands of followers as the online initiative spread like wildfire. She has since cultivated a safe space for those ashamed of not fitting into society’s “conventional” beauty standards.
Lizzy Howell
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Dance influencer Lizzy Howell gained worldwide popularity after going viral in 2017. The sudden internet fame came through a video of Howell virtually displaying her ballerina skills. The then 15-year-old explained to PEOPLE magazine that she’d been dancing since age 5 and the art had always brought her an intense feeling of joy.
Having been diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri (a rare brain condition that causes increased pressure in the skull) in her freshman year of high school, Howell’s story is a true testament to never giving up on yourself. Since then, she’s obtained over 600,000 followers on Instagram, 200,000 subscribers on YouTube, and a massive following of 1.8 million on TikTok.
Júlia Del Bianco
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Brazilian dancer/model Júlia Del Bianco is an illustrious ballerina with 30+ years of experience in the art. She began growing her expertise at age 3 and ultimately graduated from the University of Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil with a degree in dance.
Per an interview with Bright Side, she gushed about how she felt she was born to do dance. “I’ve always danced and wanted to dance,” she told the media site. “I don’t remember consciously choosing ballet or even thinking about becoming a dancer because, for me, it was sort of the obvious thing to do.”
Now an instructor, Bianco is dancing by her own rules, and we love every minute of it.
Janaina Binhardi
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Janaina Binhardi is a skilled dancer and rising influencer based in Brazil. Through her content, the plus size artist documents her weekly warm-ups as a ballerina and how she so beautifully dominates the studio floor — every step of the way.
Binhardi started ballet at 6 years old but stopped shortly after. According to her social media, at 11, she took jazz and belly dancing classes until she turned 13. After spending three years doing jazz music (from 21 to 24), she decided to finally take ballet seriously at 27. Since then, she hasn’t let up on fulfilling her lifelong dream.
Freje Randall
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Texas ballerina Freje Randall rose to prominence in 2020 after having the grand opportunity to perform with Lizzo at that year’s GRAMMY ceremony. Per an interview with Houston Life, she cited that Lizzo’s team loved her so much that they asked if she could fly to California and the rest was history.
Randall (who, at the time, was a student of Joffrey Ballet School in New York) began ballet at a young age, but started training professionally at Fort Bend Academy of Dance and Ballet Forte. “I’ve always felt isolated in classes. Simply because my skin is so much darker than everybody else’s, and my body is completely different,” she said on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “I have curves, and ballet is a very stereotypical form of dance. I knew when I didn’t get into certain companies that I auditioned for, it was because of that.”
Now referring to herself as “Thee Stallion BALLER-ina,” the Delta Sigma Theta member has garnered nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and over 150,000 on TikTok.
Which of these plus size ballerinas did you know? Share below!
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