The Upper School National Honor Society of Dance Arts held its annual “Love Your Body” week from Nov. 17-21, a nationwide campaign promoting body acceptance and confidence for all in an era when 90% of teenagers report having some level of body image concern. Members of the Dance Club hung notes with positive messages affirming the resilience and radiance of bodies across campus, and coordinated a photo booth with a “Love Your Body” background.
“I feel like the event has helped students because it’s allowing them to connect and feel seen,” sophomore and Dance Club member Sakshi Desai said. “It just makes them [students] feel like they have a place to go.”
Upper School Mental Health Counselor Marlyne DeLima affirmed that the lighthearted nature of the event enabled it to reach students and faculty who may not otherwise engage with mental health initiatives.
“So I think that [fun] approach sort of allows people to be disarmed and lean into the parts that they like, which is [the beauty of] dance and the body … So, I think it’s wise that the Dance Club used that,” DeLima said.
She also highlighted the event’s potential to combat the notion that to be beautiful is to conform to the mold society perpetuates in advertisements and on social media. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 40% of adolescents worry about their appearance because of social media images.
“I think it’s an important initiative, especially today, where people are so hyper-focused on how they look, and people are so worried about not looking a certain way,” DeLima said. “So I think this is a great initiative to say, ‘love your body the way it is.’ And if there’s a desire to improve your body, do it in the spirit of becoming the best version of yourself and not what others dictate as beautiful.”
Adolescent dancers are commonly recognized as aesthetic athletes at an amplified—and perilous—risk for body dissatisfaction and eating disorders compared to the general population. Upper School Dance Program Director Stephanie Rocha, who’s worked with countless young dancers and likely witnessed this destructive plight firsthand, was the arbiter of the campus’s observance of “Love Your Body” week.
“All bodies are strong bodies, and this initiative is encouraging students to recognize that,” Rocha said.
Though the event was designed to encourage a more positive perception of body image among the Raider community, DeLima emphasized that beauty isn’t skin-deep and that there are many other facets of resplendency to prioritize.
“You fall in love with someone’s mind and someone’s character; that’s so much of who you are when you enter a room,” DeLima said. “It’s beyond your skin, your physicality; it’s who you are, and how you make people feel, and that’s what’s gonna shine.”
