Hands up who has heard about Kathryn Morgan, the ballet dancer crashing the stereotypes? Hm, not too many.
Let me introduce you to the trailblazer changing the world of ballet.
Who is Kathryn Morgan?
I have written before about another phenomenal ballet dancer – Dr Merritt Moore – who is also a quantum physicist.
Kathryn Morgan is equally outstanding, impressive and inspiring. Though her story is completely different.
Kathryn wanted to be a ballet dancer from a small age. Her determination and passion took her all the way to New York City Ballet Company, one of the most famous and prestigious ballet companies in the world.
Kathryn danced the biggest and most demanding roles in ballet productions. She wowed everyone with her Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker”, and as Juliet in “Romeo and Julia”. She stunned the audiences in Christopher Wheeldon’s “A Carousel”, and in Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes”.
All in all, whatever role Kathryn danced, it was phenomenal.
In an unbelievable twist of fate, when Kathryn was at the height of her career, her health started to deteriorate. She was diagnosed with hypothyroid which affected her weight, her mental health, and her general well-being. However much she tried, dancing became more and more strenuous and difficult for her.
Kathryn decided to leave the New York City company. And it was a devastating decision for her.
Imagine loving what you do with every cell of your body, and being forced to stop it because your own body is not being cooperative.
A new Kathryn is born
I guess one of the easiest thing to do here would have been to simply give up. After all, your body is against you. At the time that Kathryn was battling her condition, she was going through lots of tests to figure out what was going on and how to help her.
The feeling tired and losing hair didn’t help. Returning to the stage at that point seemed absolutely impossible.
But Kathryn loved dancing too much to just give up.
This is when Kathryn’s YouTube channel was born. Kathryn started creating ballet routine tutorials and sharing her ballet advice through social media. And these videos – till this day – are an incredible story of Kathryn’s journey.
It is quite incredible to see the transformation. This is Kathryn who is honest (not that she wasn’t honest before) and inviting her fans into her life of not giving up.
I personally have been following her channel for ages, and her tutorials saved my body from going out of shape during the pandemic!
Kathryn the Incredible Woman changing the ballet world
The YouTube channel was a starting point in the new chapter in Kathryn’s life.
Her tenaciousness and perseverance led to her being on a stage again, this time that of Miami City Ballet. All her fans were so thrilled for her. Kathryn’s plans and dreams to perform were coming true again.
Not for long though. After a few months, we learned that Kathryn left the company. Why? Because she didn’t fit into the company’s standards of what a ballet dancer should look like. Yes you’ve read that correctly.
And once again, Kathryn could have given up. Or could have become angry and bitter with the whole world. But she didn’t.
Since leaving Miami City Ballet company, she became a very vocal advocate for body standards in ballet. Kathryn is championing the changes that are so overdue in the ballet world. She is actively changing the perception of what a ballet dancer looks like. That it is no longer a skinny white girl who needs to be of a certain height and weight.
Any body – literally – can dance. You don’t need to weigh only so many kilos (or pounds), your waist does not be of a certain width to be a dancer.
Kathryn Morgan, the incredible woman, is on a mission to change the long standing expectation that a ballet dancer has to be thin. She has now given interviews which trigger floods of dancers sharing their story of being body shamed.
Dance is supposed to be a pleasant and joyful activity. Not something that makes you depressed or makes you hate yourself. And this is what many dancers are experiencing because of the standards that no one was brave enough to change.
But this is changing. Thanks to Kathryn, the conversation about the body standards in the dance world has started and it’s getting louder and louder. There is still a hell of a lot to be done to get things to change for good. Racism is still prevalent in the dance world too, though companies such as Ballet Black are on a mission to change this too.
What’s next for Kathryn the trailblazer?
Kathryn continues to spread the awareness about the body shaming and body positivity. I love it because I always believed dance is for everyone, no matter your race, your religion, your gender or size.
Recently, Kathryn has started two exciting chapters in her life.
Her ‘little’ project called KM and Friends is gaining speed. Her aim is to bring ballet classes to places that normally would not have the opportunity to have such events.
And on top of that, much to her fans’ joy, she has just got engaged to her best friend and a dancer Christopher Sellars.
I personally am a huge fan of Kathryn. I find her inspiring, incredible, and simply beautiful and funny soul. And I am so so happy for the new adventures of this incredible woman.