Dancers are more or less expected to exhibit a flawless body type at all times, and dancers who do not conform to the classic “look” are frequently nudged out of the spotlight, or out of the profession entirely. So when a star dancer at a major American ballet company chooses to continue performing while pregnant, as Julie Kent of the American Ballet Theater did this fall, it is a big story. Kent says it was an easy decision: “If I had chosen not to dance, I think I would have been wondering why — you’re not injured, you’re not sick, and there’s nothing that different about you except your waistline’s growing.”