We love New York City Ballet. And, many of us have been season ticket holders, donors, and boosters of the ballet. But, as feminists, dancers, patrons of the arts, and for some of us, recovering anorexics, we find the use of Jamie Lee Reardin's "skinny minnies" in the season's ticket brochure and advertising to be demeaning, offensive, and the worst form of stereotyping.

For more than a decade, the New York City Ballet has been an effective advocate for dancer health and consistently chosen "strong" dancers over "frail" dancers.

However, Jamie Lee Reardin's art harkens back to an earlier era in which eating disorders and dancer health were disregarded in the pursuit of an unrealistic and often unsafe "ideal" of the female body. Worse, they send the wrong message to young dancers everywhere—potentially triggering those already battling anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders by celebrating an impossibly thin caricature of the female dancer's form.

While the artist is certainly free to draw anything she wishes, we expect much more sensitivity, intelligence, and leadership from Peter Martins and the NYCB. These works represent neither the best of New York City Ballet, nor the ideals of health, superstrength, and power that its dancers and its policies have come to represent.

We call upon New York City Ballet to replace this advertising campaign with one that befits its company, honoring its dancers, its vision, and its place of importance and influence throughout the world of ballet.