NYC ballerina responds to critic's weight jab

[December 14, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City Ballet dancer says a newspaper critic needn't apologize for calling her plump in a performance of "The Nutcracker."

Jenifer Ringer, cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy, said Monday on NBC's "Today" that her body is part of her "art form" and there to be criticized.

In his review, New York Times ballet critic Alastair MaCaulay said Ringer "looked as if she'd eaten one sugarplum too many."

Ringer says MaCaulay is paid to put his opinion in the newspaper. But, she says, some 2,000 other people who saw the Nov. 25 show "had a different opinion as well."

Ringer has battled eating disorders and says she's "a more womanly type than the stereotypical ballerina."

[Associated Press]

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