When Jessica Bell was just three years old, her parents took her to a dance. And already at the age of 16, she achieved many successes, and it seemed the whole world was at her feet!
But it was at this age that she was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries. The girl needed to perform a number of operations. And after the first one, the doctors forbade Jessica to lose weight, because it could lead to bad consequences.
“A ballerina has to fit sizes 38-40, otherwise you’re out of the profession,” Jessica explained.
At that time, she had already gained weight, and at the dance school the girl was given an ultimatum: either she was losing weight, or her contract was being terminated. And after Jessica became a mom, she gained another 20 kilograms. With such a weight, it was possible to forget about the career of a ballerina forever. But she absolutely couldn’t lose weight, and the woman had to learn to live in her body and accept herself. But at the same time, Jessica did not give up, she continued to dance, and soon began teaching choreography. In addition, she began to receive offers to work as a plus-size model.
Jessica explains: “It’s not about how much I eat. I was on different diets, and it didn’t bring me anything but fatigue. My body can’t get smaller, it’s a given. Or I will remove cysts twice a year until I die on the operating table. I want to dance, this is my vocation. I dance 40 hours a week. Every week. And I’m doing it well. It’s harder for me to dance than for slimmer people, but I do it because even weight can’t serve as an obstacle on the way to a dream.”
Perseverance and self-belief, in the end, brought her well-deserved recognition. When Channel 4 started filming the documentary series “Bolshoi Ballet”, Jessica was invited to play the Black Swan.
“I would like to be able to tell all the people who want to dance but face obstacles: “Just keep going.” If I had given up back then, at 16, I wouldn’t have gotten what I have.”
