• Tue, Jun 12 - 10:03 am ET

A Real Dancer’s Take On Bunheads

As a former dancer, ABC Family’s new show Bunheads immediately piqued my interest. I watched all the previews and trailers with increased enthusiasm for what looked like a fun drama created by one of my favorite woman in Hollywood, Amy Sherman-Palladino. Seeing that the creator of Gilmore Girls also created this show got my hopes up that Bunheads would feature strong female leads, fast-paced conversation and witty dialogue — all centered around the world of dance. What could be more fun for a former dancer (who still sometimes misses the dance world) to watch?

Turns out a lot of things would be more fun to watch than Bunheads.

While I went into the show with high expectations for great characters and witty dialogue, I did not really expect to see quality dancing. Truth be told, television and film usually fail to capture the realistic work of dance. Cult classic Center Stage got the closest to capturing the real dance world, but even that movie had major flaws. However with that said, I finished the first episode of Bunheads thoroughly disappointed with what I just saw — the show failed to deliver on even my low expectations. Not only there is very little actual dancing, but it’s incrediby unrealistic and the ballerinas are surprisingly stupid.

It’s not only offensive to watch as a woman, but also as someone who used to love dancing. Now when I say I was a dancer I don’t mean I was a professional dancer or I went to school for dance. But I danced for almost ten years and quit after a go at pointe. I realized I could have a lot more of a life (and save my feet) if I chose another extracurricular, so I moved on to cheerleading which incorporated elements of dance. I actually enjoyed high school a lot more than most of my dancer friends. Although, I do have some foot and toe issues after years of torment,  it’s manageable.

When you’re committed to being a dancer, it takes over your life. It starts out as something fun as a kid but it turns into hell very quickly. I remember young girls being on diets from the very beginning. You’re constantly staring at yourself in a leotard, seeing every part of you move and thinking “yeah, maybe my thighs could be thinner.” I remember taping up my feet and tending to bleeding blisters at around 7. With the amount of pressure put on young dancers, you would think prepping for a recital was the only thing that mattered in the world. It’s a very strange place to put a young person in.

Nevertheless, I still welcome watching TV shows and movies about the show in hopes that they recapture the magic of the sport I used to love. Before it made my feet bloody and blistered. So let’s take the show from the top so I can show you why it disappointed me so much.

The name Bunheads alone is ridiculous. No one in my dance community or any other dancer I’ve met in my life had called themselves or anyone else a bunhead. I mean, it makes sense since typically dancers wear buns on top of their heads,  but still, a very unrealistic term.

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You can reach this post's author, Caitlin Corsetti, on twitter.
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  • Meghan Radespiel

    I really had my fingers crossed for this show because I love “Gilmore Girls”, sad to here it isn’t so hot!

  • Sarah!

    I watched part of this and didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. My boyfriend and and I have spent the better part of a month saying “So you wanna be a bunhead, huh?” to each other with that weird cadence from the promos. My boyfriend thinks “bunhead” sounds like something that elementary schoolers would call each other on the playground.

    • D

      It’s what Darien used to call Serena on Sailor Moon, too (in the manga version anyway).

  • Ella Bradley

    The show is not supposed to be realistic to the last detail; it’s a TV show! It is meant to be entertaining for everyone, dancer or not.

  • Alexei K.

    Hmm…more I read this article more I think you will need this show in your life. Don’t loose those dreams that you had when you first started dancing.

  • Josh

    Who edits these posts? “Chock that up” should read “chalk that up.” I appreciated the opinion presented, but like the writer’s view of Bunheads, this article is flawed.

  • Lauren

    As a former dancer, I think you are the one with the skewed views on this show, I really enjoyed it. I did ballet for 15 years. When I graduated high school and went to college, and did not pursue dance as a career. I did however take it in my college for a few semesters, but it was nothing serious. When I was very young, I did 5 different types of dance 5 days a week. When I got to middle school I gave everything but ballet up, and advanced to pointe class which I took 3 times a week. I wasn’t dancing to be a professional after a few years of pointe. Not because I didn’t want it but because I knew I was too short to make a lasting career of it. I kept up with my classes, but I did it for the joy I got from dancing.

    Your strike one is a bit ridiculous. When you were on stage not talking, were you being filmed for a scripted TV show? No. TV is all about timing. They cannot waste 5 minutes of show with a bit of performance and then the witty banter afterward. All of that has to happen at the same time. The way they did it was while the dancers were in back of the topless show girls, therefore the dancers talking would not be seen by the audience. With any TV show, you have to give it a bit of dramatic license. Would that happen in real life? Probably not. But is it SO unbelievable that it should ruin a show? No.

    Strike 2, (if you mean not bringing anything to an audition not the stuff about Hubbell stalking her), is such a small detail that it is hardly even worth mentioning. Yes, if it were a real audition, she probably would have had things with her. However, again with TV timing. The dialog Michelle has with her friend who got her the audition (his name escapes me) is all done while she’s running into the audition. To add in going to a different room, putting down her stuff and then walking onto the stage is taking valuable time away from the parts of the show you are supposed to be paying attention to.

    For your strike 3 it seems like you were not even paying attention to what actually happened in that scene. The girl who wanted to get the beer, Sasha, is the perfect ballet physique. You get the feeling that she is just built that way and at her young age does not even need to try. She’s also going through stuff which makes her want to be rebellious. The “larger” girl flat out refuses the beer because she doesn’t want the extra calories.

    You seem to be missing the point of this show. Yes, they are dancers, but its about the characters, the dancing comes secondary. A movie like Center Stage is a very good representation of what it’s like to be a dancer because that’s what it’s trying to do. Bunheads isn’t trying to do that, it’s trying to entertain, which I think it did a pretty good job of doing.

    Also, Bunheads is a thing, just because you didn’t know it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

  • Elizabeth

    All I know is that after reading this “review”, I’m thankful that you’re not responsible for writing television shows. Although if you were, I’d get a whole hell of a lot more reading done.

  • Emma

    Everyone I know uses the term bunhead. Or at least knows the term bunhead.

  • Maisy

    I think you were a bit hard on it, it’s a tv show!!

    And the term ‘Bunhead’? I have heard it used all the time and ballet dancers are referred to as bunhead.

    I don’t know what school you were going to at age 7, I think there was something wrong that you were tending to blisters on your feet at that age.

  • Sheri Dye

    “Now when I say I was a dancer I don’t mean I was a professional dancer or I went to school for dance.”

    Well, when I say I’m a pony, I don’t mean I have 4 legs and a tail.

  • Lori

    Firstly, I’d say get real it’s a story! It’s entertainment. Secondly, yes, I had never heard the term Bunhead until about 10 years ago and I have danced for well over 40 years, never as a professional dancer – I wasn’t good enough but I teach classical ballet. Bunhead however, appears to be a very common Americanism for serious ballet dancers which is now a pretty internationally used term.
    Dancing until you try pointe does not, in my opinion make you a dancer! I would never call myself a dancer even though I trained for many years and am a teacher.

  • Greg

    This is idiotic. She says in the 4th paragraph shes NOT a real dancer or anything close to it.
    This is a first rate show . Like any good show, it concentrates on its characters and makes you want to know more about them. The show is about people involved with dancing, not about dancing itself. If it was, it would only appeal to a small group of wannabes like the “Real Dancer.” What dancing there is furthers character development ant the plot. The dance sequences are very enjoyable and fit into the action rather than interrupt it. It’s a fine balance that this show handles extraordinarily well.

    • Dee

      Agreed. And She criticized the name as being “unrealistic”. What should it have been called? “Dancers?” You title the blog “A real dancer’s take” and then say you weren’t a dancer. I’ll take this opinion with a grain of salt.

  • Hannah

    Bunheads is the best! I finally found a relateable show. I’m never going to be a teen popstar or a a brodway star but I’m a dancer and I’m in the same situation as Boo. This is my favorite show and I hope it doesn’t get canceled.
    FYI, I’m a ballerina and all my friends call me a bunhead. :)

  • Abigail

    In response to your critique of the title, maybe bunheads is a term they happen to use in that particular dance school—sometimes small groups of people develop their own slang and terms for things. Just because you’ve never heard the term doesn’t mean that it’s
    unrealistic for kids to use it in one particular dance studio. Anyway, I think it’s a cute name that fits the pesonality of the show, as it’s not really about serious dance.

    Furthermore… how does this show dancers being stupid? The dancers thought Hubbell was a nice guy, not a stalker, and they were right. How is saying “it’s so sweet” stupid? I just don’t see your point there. Additionally, when they were having dinner, because Michelle was saying things like “You’re so good to me” and saying she’s blown him off a lot, makes me think the relationship isn’t a stalker relationship, that she’s been seeing this guy for a while but has never really taken it as seriously as he has.

    About marrying Hubbell, is your issue here with the fact that she married the guy, or do you have an issue with this decision being part of the show? Just because it wouldn’t be YOUR solution doesn’t mean it’s not an interesting solution for the character to choose, leading to an interesting plot development. And, as I said before, I think it goes a little deeper than “just showing up to watch her dance.”

    Also, you seem to have an issue with Hubbell’s relationship with his mom. Again, I think this is a personal issue, I mean, you seem to be saying that because YOU think it’s weird that it takes away from the show. It would be one thing if the show presented this unrealistic scenario and didn’t make a big deal out of it, but it doesn’t. It presents this situation, this relationship between Hubbell and his mom, and it says THIS IS WEIRD! LAUGH AT IT! That’s what makes this show special. It’s that oddball scenario that makes for an interesting plot. If every show was about the average American in the average family, what fun will that be?

    As far as the drinking goes, again… they’re not serious dancers! They’re just kids learning. The only one drinking beer anyway is Sasha, who (as we find out) isn’t really very serious about dancing at all. And Michelle and Fanny, well, they don’t dance seriously anymore, so they drink as well.

    Now, you applaud the fake audition scene for being real, but except that everything else was a real situation, just not what you’d expect (except the inconsistency with the gym bag and talking backstage). There’s a difference between an impossible situation and an unusual one.

    And lastly you say there’s nothing about dieting or pain… I’m sorry, I just don’t think that’s what the show’s about. The pain, the dieting… why make that the focus of everything to do without dancing? (Anyway these are brought up in later episodes, with Boo dieting and the hurt foot contest). Just because the show doesn’t dwell on it doesn’t mean it’s not there, it’s just not the point of the show. The show highlights specific parts of the life of dancer for comedic or dramatic effect, deciding to be a show about what it wants to be about, not what everyone might say a show about dance MUST be about.