Image © Inti St. Clair / Digital Vision / Getty Images
I was interested to read about the allegations of widespread cocaine abuse at the Royal Danish Ballet in the Copenhagen Post. The story illustrates many of the issues that complicate the way we are currently attempting to deal with drug problems.
While at first glance, you might not think of dancers at the Royal Danish Ballet as typical drug addicts, they share many of the occupational pressures that other entertainers, who we might more readily associate with drug use. Like models, ballet dancers are under pressure to remain thin, and as a stimulant, cocaine both increases energy and stamina and suppresses appetite. The job also requires hours of gruelling and monontous practice, which, as professional dancer Paula Adbul explained, can be eased by self medication (in her case, painkiller addiction). And ballet at this level requires an enormous amount of confidence, so the grandiosity and false confidence that comes with the cocaine high could make it appealing to ballet dancers, who need nerves of steel to perform in front of some the most critical audiences in the world.
The story also raises the issue of truth telling -- unlike other mental health problems, drug problems, especially when they involve controlled drugs, are considered something that the public has a right to know. So the question of drug testing the dancers has been raised, and declined by the ballet company, who chose to "take people at their word." While this is laudable attitude, it is unrealistic when dealing with addicts, who are often prone to lying. In my professional experience, drug testing can take the whole dimension of whether or not people are lying about their drug use out of the picture, turning the focus instead to the help that is needed.
Which brings me to the final issue raised by this story -- why expose the ballet dancers' cocaine at all? Surely their drug use, although illegal, is a private matter? Yet drug users in the public eye are rarely, if ever, given any confidentiality around drug-related behavior they conduct in private -- despite the fact that, unlike many other professionals -- such as drivers, machine operators, carers, and medical staff -- don't put anyone else at risk through their drugs use. However, I can see that the younger dancers who initially sparked the rumours may have felt under peer pressure to use cocaine if it was going on around them, or they may have been concerned about the risks of cocaine, such as exposure to what is in cocaine, cocaine withdrawal, and cocaine addiction, or they may have felt that their cocaine-using colleagues needed help with cocaine addiction.
A postscript -- it is quite possible that the dancers at the Royal Ballet, are not using cocaine. And even if they are, support and help is what is needed in such circumstances, not added stress from the judgements of others.
Dancers lead lives away from the theater (and besides, a coked-up performer could be very dangerous to his fellows on stage). Dancers drive cars and have children, for instance. Further, a company director who allows or encourages such usage is not fulfilling his/her responsibility as the most significant authority figure.
You raise some important points. Many professions have members whose drug use poses a risk to others — unfortunately, this does not deter everyone from being irresponsible with drugs. Many drug users have children and drive cars while under the influence, situations where the law is most justified in intervening.