Advertisements for a Ballet Dancer (print media) 12/7/14

Though in Mr. Starace's class we spend a long time pondering our relationship with ads found in beauty magazines, billboards, and commercials on TV, I want to bring to light the ballet dancer's equivalent to those kind of ads.  To generalize, ballet dancers are very particular about how they look in regards to the kind of pointe shoes they wear and what kinds of leotards they own; after all, they are judged on every aspect of their body and technique just to get a job.  Just as many women these days will try just about anything to achieve perfect makeup and hair to look flawless, ballet dancers try a plethora of products to attain a "perfect ballet body" to boost their odds of being hired by a company.  As I alluded to above, one of the most commonly advertised methods of becoming a more beautiful dancer and therefore a better candidate for a job is pointe shoes.

The ad at the top of the page is for a company that sells pointe shoes.  In their ad, they use many techniques and appeals to tempt to dancers to buy their kind of pointe shoes.  They use the appeal of "Need to achieve" to do this.  Their slogan at the top of the ad reads, "It's amazing what goes into making something effortless."  This conveys the feeling that if a dancer wears this shoe (and still practices hard) she will achieve greatness, just like the dancer in the picture below.  Dancers try to be the best that they can, and if a shoe promises results like those seen in the ad, a dancer may be more inclined to buy it.  

This ad uses the techniques of gestalt and a testimonial to convince the reader to buy the product.  The ballet dancer's red leotard makes her stand out. Because of this, she stands out, and the ad may be remembered easier than others.  Also, the company chose to use principal dancer Amy Watson to be the model for this ad.  Watson is known to be a beautiful dancer who is very elegant and graceful when she dances.  By using this dancer, the company is saying that if you wear these pointe shoes, you can dance as gracefully and as elegantly as Amy Watson.  

Just for fun, here is a picture of me rehearsing for Nutcracker.  I do not wear the pointe shoes this ad is advertising for though...