Stakeholder #1

My primary stakeholder is the man who started this specific controversy.  Why, you ask? Well, he has quite a lot to say.  In fact, his controversial remark was followed up by another article which went even deep in support for his opinion.

Who?
Alastair Macaulay was the critic who wrote the controversial review on Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle.  He is the chief dance critic for the New York Times and has held that position since April 2007.  For what might be obvious reasons, he does not seem to have social media accounts, so most pictures of him online show him in suits or crisp button ups in order to show a good image for the New York Times.  He appears to be an older man (age not found on internet), with hair of varying shades of curly grey hair and a pronounced nose.  In interviews, his thick British accent and calm collected manner gives off the impression of a confident and well spoken individual.  After writing arts reviews for 34 years now, he is still incredibly passionate about the arts, in particular dance, and enjoys mimicking the movements with his own upper body in order to try to describe their quality to the interviewer. 

Claims
1) Macaulay implied that Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle were fat or heavy by commenting that Ringer "looked as if she'd eaten one sugarplum too many," and that Jared Angle "seems to have been sampling half the Sweet realm."
2) He claims that with ballet as a visual performing art, critics do have the right to comment on body.  This is summed up almost perfectly when Macaulay writes in his defense "If you want to make your appearance irrelevant to criticism, do not choose ballet as a career."
3)  He claims that the costume can make a huge difference in the way the body is seen, and that "in most of her (Jenifer Ringer) recent ballet roles, she has actually looked slender." He also tries to make it clear that he is objective by saying "when I’ve praised Ms. Ringer, I’ve applied the standards I’ve applied to Suzanne Farrell, Natalia Makarova and Kyra Nichols."

Validity
I find that these claims aren't necessarily valid because they are more of an opinion (in fact all reviews are opinions); however Macaulay does have a lot of clout seeing how he is the the chief dance critic of the New York Times, and has had 34+ of writing reviews on the visual performing arts.  He is also a valid source because, he started this whole controversy in the first place.  In his follow article, he attempts to pander to our emotions by saying that he understands body standards, as he had a deformed chest from asthma as a child, which in his words is "less than ideal" than the body situations of ballerinas.

Are Other People Saying the Same Thing?
Most people vehemently disagree with Macaulay.  They say that a critic is there to review the dancing not the how fat or thin the dancers are.  Others (in comment sections on certain articles) that have slightly more in common with Macaulay do not necessarily agree with him, but do agree with the fact that weight can be a factor in becoming a successful dancer.  Many of the second type are dancers past and present.

Anonymous. No Title.  2015 via imgur. Public Domain