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Straight Up
Stand better, look better, feel better.
BY S. KIRK WALSH
Stand up straight! Most of us have heard this familiar reprimand more than once. Unfortunately, for many of us, standing and walking tall isn’t exactly second nature. Instead, if we’re not paying attention,
we slump, we slouch, and we hunch our shoulders
forward, particularly when it’s worst for us: when we’re
fatigued after a long day of work.
For Ashley Wheater, who has been dancing since he
was six years old, good posture is an intrinsic part of
his lifelong profession. Born in Scotland, by age nine,
Wheater was training at the Royal Ballet School in
London, before going on to dance professionally with
London Festival Ballet, the Australian Ballet, The Joffrey
Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet. Now 55, Wheater
serves as the artistic director of The Joffrey Ballet in
Chicago. “I think you sense good posture; it allows your
body to breathe more freely,” Wheater says. “It provides
a sense of self and a sense of worth.”
