Dancer Grub Mission

Dancers are athletes that must eat food that will serve them best as they train, develop and perform. And the ideal food diet for me could be very different from someone else. However, as a dance community, we can do better to share information about the food we’ve found to be most beneficial for our strength, body development and preferred weight. To be clear, the word “diet” in this context refers to the kinds of foods that a community (professional dancers) habitually eats. This is not a blog about “dieting” and/or weight loss. Rather, it is a blog to share information, tips and advice from dancers about food, health and creating the strongest, most agile and supple body possible. We strive for a body that can endure the rigor, repetitiveness and elasticity that we ask of it day in and day out. Most important is to find out what is right for you. This will take some trial and error along with consulting your doctor. It is my hope that you find the information here useful in helping you to reach and maintain your personal goals as a healthy, professional dancer.

Who am I?

I started dancing a bit when I was about 10 years old. Unfortunately, I felt insecure with my love of dance around the other boys at school and gave it up for sports. I didn't start taking dance class seriously again until I was in college. Outside of college and after graduating, I was fortunate to study at the schools of the Pennsylvania Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and a terrific ballet school in upstate NY. I also took classes in NYC at Cunningham, Limon, BDC, Steps and a number of other studios. I danced professionally for SusanStroman in NY, in National Tours, European Tours and regional productions across the country.

Unfortunately, during most of my early training, I didn't know anything about the right food diet for a dancer and didn’t give myself the nourishment that would have been best. Eventually, I started learning about nutrition from my friend and personal trainer back in New York City. This inspired a lot of research and reading on my own. These days, I have the best nutritional guide living under the same roof - and she will be the source for much of the information that I write in this blog. My girlfriend is Debbie Kim, an acupuncturist and nutritionist in Los Angeles. And if you are a professional dancer working here in LA, there is a good chance that you have heard of her. I'll let other dancers attest to her knowledge and how she has helped them. But whether my information comes from Debbie or somewhere else, I always will do my best to make sure that you know the source, so you can follow up for yourself and make the best decisions for you. Wishing you many years of happy dancing and success!

-Hayes Bergman