Update on the Relationship Between

Anorexia and Art

In the last two postings I have been somewhat cryptic about the relationship between anorexia nervosa and ballet and art. This is because I am only now in the process of researching these relationships. C.G. Jung talks about a negative creative process whereby the psyche’s creative inspirations can be constellated in such a manner as to potentially lead one toward self-destructive ends. This phenomenon was illustrated in the Red Shoes ballet that was featured in the Red Shoes movie (1949). Regarding the relationship between anorexia nervosa and art, C.G. Jung says that modern art focusses upon making ugliness and disintegration a desirable form of expression. There is a psychological relationship between some mental disorders and some form of artistic expression. Creativity and destruction are closely related.

I have been expanding upon these themes and another topic in my recent research and I am in the process of making some important changes and additions to the manuscript. Anorexia nervosa was extremely rare in C.G. Jung’s day, but the principles of psychology that he worked on also apply to disorders like anorexia nervosa as well as they did to the more familiar hysterical disorders that were fairly common among city folks during his time.

I am purposely holding up the publication date because I want to include some of the things that I am finding during my recent research. But I cannot get into the relationship between dance and anorexia nervosa in the book because that would add too much text to an already large and complex book project. I may consider writing a separate book on the topic of Dancing with Demons, as the topics that many ballet stories deal with often involves a dance with Death, a demon, a spectre, e.g., the Red Shoes ballet (1949), or some other non-human entity.