A book on nutrition for dancers, while the stores are full of advice on healthy nutrition for athletes, dietary tips for the perfect figure, and guides to eat your way to health – is this necessary? The answer is a clear ‘Yes!’ A guidebook on nutrition for dancers is long overdue. Although the positive effects of a healthy and balanced diet have long been known, there is significant misinformation about a healthy diet throughout the dance world. Meanwhile, unhealthy eating habits and inadequate fluid intake hinder dancers from performing to their full potential – a bit like dancing with the handbrake on. Peak physical performance is impossible if the body is missing important energy sources and building materials.

Yet the world of dance does not always make it easy to have a healthy relationship with food. The image of the super slim dancer, the idea of perfection and absolute mastery of the body, seems to make it more difficult to allow room for enjoyable and intuitive eating. Today, on the other hand, the modern world makes it easier than ever before to find variety in your food, provided that you have the tools to navigate through the overwhelmingly vast choices of products. It is easy to fall prey to the seductive advertisements and to choose products which do not live up to their promises. Nutrition misinformation is common, changing with current trends. Diet fads may offer very little for those who are searching for their optimal personal diet. Thus, many dancers feel left alone with questions about what, when, and how to eat, in order to stay fit for the strenuous profession of dance.

Similar to dance, nutrition also follows varying styles: everyone has their own preferences; from vegetarian to vegan; from Mediterranean to Asian. Just as in the world of dance, the more diversity one is familiar with, the easier it becomes to choose what one feels comfortable with.

This book guides through the basics of nutrition in dance, gives assistance and tips for applying these practically in your own life, and it trains you to observe your own dietary habits. With this knowledge, you can approach nutrition with the same enthusiasm many audiences have when watching dance – as something colourful in its variety and presented in different combinations according to one’s taste and needs.