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Pro dancers are very upset with Free People’s ‘offensive’ new ad

To the untrained eye, Free People’s newest ad campaign features nothing more than an ok-ish dancer practicing pointe in fashionable clothing. To dancers themselves, it amounts to a slap in the face.

To the untrained eye, Free People's newest ad campaign features nothing more than an ok-ish dancer practicing pointe in fashionable clothing. To dancers themselves, it amounts to a slap in the face.

As it turns out, it is "painfully obvious she's not an experienced dancer," according to a post from AdFreak. And, indeed, that seems to be true, judging from the YouTube comment pit:

Has she been TRAINED????? Her feet are TERRIBLE, her lines are TERRIBLE... I could go on. This is OFFENSIVE to dancers out there. You went and decided to cast some local "ballet dancer" because she had your look. Shame on you, there are plenty of professionals out there that would have looked stunning in this. 

They didn't even need to hire  a professional! There are plenty of preprofessional dancers who could have even been good enough and shown the right passion and movement and feeling. It's very unfortunate.

If your a dancer, than it hurt to watch this.

wait. that sickled biscuit doe!!!!

someone cover my eyes... QUICK.

HAHAHA. I can't with this.

Free People, please fire your casting director ASAP. This was painful to watch and offensive to anyone who has taken more than one dance class in their life. Thanks for the hilariously entertaining video, though.

AdFreak confirms as much, with a source going so far as to call the dancer's movement "dangerous" due to her poor foot and ankle positioning. Typically, the way she is dancing can lead to serious injuries and health problems. And, of course, that's saying nothing of the literal thousands of under- and unemployed dancers that would have killed for the spot.

By contrast, consider this Under Armour ad series, which features pro ballet dancer Misty Copeland doing her thing. That, Free People, is how it's done.

[Ad Freak]