Models Doing Ballet

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TREYCOOL: How did Models Doing Ballet first begin and how has it evolved?

Suzanne: Katie and I met through the dance world in Los Angeles. We experienced firsthand auditions that asked for “ballerinas”, and then would hire untrained models. We would text each other bad ballet campaigns and pictures to make ourselves laugh. One night Katie just asked…. “should we start an Instagram account,” I suggested the username, and @modelsdoingballet was born. Within days the world was in lockdown from covid, and we went viral in the ballet world.

Katie really developed the voice of the account and the hashtags that we use on every post. It’s important for us that people know this account is satire. It’s not about shaming the models themselves. We’re aiming at the big brands and publications (Think Chanel and Vogue) who hire unqualified models when there are literally thousands of ballet dancers you could hire that LOOK LIKE MODELS.

Just Stop. Hire Dancers.

Katie: Amen. It’s incredible how the dance community has responded — proof of truth in comedy and that we hit an untapped nerve. Proud to serve pure biscuit gladiator ribbon nightmares straight to the vein. But don’t get mad, get glad. Suzanne and I freestyle the comedy so well and organically; and honestly, my goal has always been to make her laugh because she’s so funny too. Same dry, gallows humor. I remember first meeting her at auditions and jobs and us just laughing at everything. Just being like what is this garbage that is pure gold. Not much has changed. It’s all absurd. If you can’t find the funny in life with heart, then what is life worth living for. Fortunately, but unfortunately, we keep finding images to post. WE HATE HOW EASY THIS IS.

So here we are. HERE FOR YOU IN DARK TIMES. Also the use of all capitals isn’t just because I believe in EQUALITY, it’s because we’re YELLING.

The founders can’t believe the amount of followers their account has received in just a few short days. “The overwhelming response is proof that change needs to happen,” they wrote. “We’re not here to shame. We’re here to change the game. While also having a laugh.”

TREYCOOL: What is your all time favorite post (of your own)?

Suzanne: OOF it’s impossible to pick just one. I love looking back on our first few posts…my fav from that era is ACTION PACKED).

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Unlimited Breadsticks really killed us, because we started using all the Olive Garden hashtags like #whenyourehereyourfamily. Katie and I were crying laughing writing it.

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Merry Stressmas is a personal favorite, because it’s just pure disaster. Models in pointe shoes waving ribbons while it’s snowing in a warehouse. One of the models jumps in the air and when she lands her shoe pops off because it’s not broken in, or her size, and the ribbons are sewn on wrong. And I lost it when Katie used the #HangkookTire hashtag because the music literally sounds like a Ford 150 commercial.

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Katie: Hahaha #hankookslams, I forgot about that one. This shit is so stupid and fun. Seriously, mad props to those models. I wouldn’t strap on a pair of rollerblades for a commercial and fall off a curb and say to myself, “I rule.” Maybe the secret is to not care so much. It’s all a joke, but we do have a united mission. To get dancers hired. Oh, and fun fact: ACTION PACKED is from a line in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. So I can’t take full credit for that caption. Respect to Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens. That stock photo ballerina was just turning for her life and the photographer caught her before she twirled into a light and probably snapped her ankle. I mean, that’s a winner for me. I second all of Suzanne’s choices. Maybe the ENYA post too. That chick was an influencer not a model though, but in the age of TikTok, what’s the difference anymore?

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Zuckerberg’s a sinking ship, which is why I’d love to see MDB evolve into more of a conversation and dialogue outside the algorithm. Maybe a YouTube channel of discussions w/ dancers. Feels less evil algorithm. Sometimes I feel like these influencers do bad ballet posts on purpose because any heat is good heat. We do like to focus on models in campaigns more because of the brands behind them. But isn’t everything these days a sponsored post?

TREYCOOL: I really love that some of your posts are examples of advertising getting it right. What do you hope becomes the impact of what you are doing?

Suzanne: We hope other brands and companies follow suit because IT’S NOT HARD.

Katie: Nah it’s not hard and thank you! Brands just gotta pay for the pros and that involves talent both in front of and behind the camera. If you’re gonna do a dance campaign, then why not hire a choreographer on set too? Or at the very least for the audition process? Again, like I always say, what rollerblade company would hire someone who has never ridden before then use a campaign photo of them flying off a curb? It’s absurd, but then again therein lies the funny. It’s just not funny when trained dancers are out there who could and would love to get paid to do the job instead. You’re VOGUE, not JACKASS.

TREYCOOL: Have you had any feedback/interaction with people from the advertising world?

TREYCOOL: There is such an irony in how hard we work to appear effortless as ballet dancers, only to have people think that it is indeed effortless enough for an untrained model to do it. On some level, is this a sign of our own success?

Suzanne: Yes, ballet dancers are incredible athletes and artists….and woefully underpaid. That’s why we’d love to see real ballet dancers hired and paid well.

Katie: Absolutely. But you know that model’s feet be hurting after shoving them into a size too small with an ouch pouch. She would probably never do it again. We even shared a model who twisted her ankle after a dance shoot. Obama made being president look easy but NOT EVERYONE CAN DO IT.

There’s a cruel irony in being a ballet dancer in that you spend your training, what has been the majority of your life, in a punishing and meticulous practice of refining. Refining in a way that makes your work look effortless. A huge part of the SKILL is giving the impression of magic and that your extreme abilities come from little effort.

This has the outcome of most of the world not knowing that it is in fact one of the most extreme physical disciplines, one that very few people master. And so when say, a fashion brand is casting for a ballet themed photoshoot, it is often populated with models, rather than people trained in the discipline being portrayed.

Seeing this as a ballet dancer is cringe-worthy at best, humiliating at the other end of the spectrum. Instagram account @modelsdoingballet has curated a hilarious and growing compilation of advertising’s representation of ballet, along with the occasional glorious example of when fashion gets it right.

Here are a few of their favorite Instagram accounts:

Balletmoods, Diet Prada, Kookslams, Somatic Based Content Only, and of course our original ambassador, Kendall Jenner. We love following James Whiteside. We did a post with the caption “WHITESIDE COULD NEVER”…and he responded “I’m screaming right now.”

Dead. We made it.

Models Doing Ballet Models Doing Ballet Models Doing Ballet Models Doing Ballet Models Doing Ballet Models Doing Ballet

@modelsdoingballet @modelsdoingballet @modelsdoingballet @modelsdoingballet @modelsdoingballet @modelsdoingballet @modelsdoingballet

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