Dance Is A Sport
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| Misty Copland |
“Dance is not a sport since everyone can do it.” “Dance is art, not a sport.” “You can’t win at dance.” People have so many different opinions. When I state my point of view, that competitive dance is a sport, people scream at my face, telling me I’m wrong and trying to make me ashamed of my thoughts. This simple topic is a huge controversy and everyone I talk to has a different view on it. So what do you think? Is dance a sport?
I have been dancing since I was four, competing since I was ten and have dedicated my life to this activity, For these reasons, I am an experienced advocate for my opinion. To me, dance is a sport. But, there are guidelines. Dance is only a sport when you compete. You must compete against others and be extremely dedicated, putting time and effort into improving your skill. One recreational class a week doesn’t make it a sport.
Controversy on this argument gets so intense that I have gotten into screaming matches with people. Competitive dance is a sport and I stand by that. “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” The exact definition of a sport as found on dictionary.com. Competitive dance is an activity that involves physical exertion, tons of skill with competitive attributes. Not to mention, dance is extremely entertaining. It couldn’t fit into the definition more.
The show Dance Moms is a teen favorite that focuses on a team of dancers. They call attention to the moms that bring lots of drama but also to the dancer's hard work when learning and performing the routines. Many people ask me if the show is realistic and similar to my experience. To be honest, the drama aspect isn’t normal but the hard work, injuries and long hours aren’t exaggerated. When they go to competitions they show the behind the scenes with the teammates and moms. They do a good job showing the intensity of the performances and how much pressure parents, teachers and studio owners put on you to do well. The competitions aren’t a joke.
As a dancer, you and your team have high expectations to own up to. If you don’t do well, it's a reflection, not only on you, but also on your studio’s reputation. It’s more serious and way more competitive than people think. You don’t get into physical fights on the field like soccer, but the dirty looks other dancers give you and the excessive competitiveness your team has almost makes up for it.
The link to a dance mom's clip showing how much pressure dance can put on you and how intense the competitions are.
I remember in fourth grade when I would go into the older girl’s classes and see how flexible they all were. The teacher would tell us to get into our splits and they would glide into them perfectly without hesitation, while I was five inches off the ground. I wanted to be just like them.
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| Feet of a pointe dancer (not many people get to see what’s underneath the shoe.) |
After that dance class, I set a goal for myself, to have my split by the end of the school year. After stretching every day for thirty minutes, I got closer and closer to the ground. In just three months I was able to reach the floor and glide into my split, just like the older girls were. I was so proud of myself and I still remember the first time I was able to do it. But, I wasn’t able to get my split overnight. I put in many hours of hard work and dedication to reach my goal. Flexibility is a huge part of being a good dancer and without my will power, I wouldn’t be able to be where I am today.
Not many people understand how much work goes into our dances and how hard we strive for our first place medals. We first learn our dances in August and perform them in January. In between, we meet every week to rehearse until the dances are close to perfect. Additionally, there are other required classes beyond the rehearsals. Last year, I spent a total of nine hours a week at my dance studio. I always joked with my family that I could live at the studio and my friends always complained that I never had time to hang out. “Sorry I have dance” was my catchphrase. Sore muscles, excessive cuts, bruises, and cracked toenails don't come from “just stretching.”
Aside from flexibility, you also need perfect technique and strength to be an excellent dancer. Technique is even more difficult to perfect. Pointing your toes and straight, turned out legs are muscle memory skills that need to be drilled into your brain. Needless to say, this takes many years and lots of practice. When becoming professional or even dancing at a higher level, teachers and judges expect you to be able to do all of these things without question.
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Football player vs. Ballerina |
A professional ballet dancer and a professional football player go head to head in a plank competition seeing who can hold it longer. I bet most people would think that a football player would have more core strength. My friend predicted the football player, I predicted the ballet dancer. We watched the Youtube video on the edge of our seats. Turned out, I won. The male ballet dancer held the plank twelve seconds longer. I realize that this is only one trial and one type of exercise but it shows that dancers can be stronger. Strength is always ignored in the dance world. It’s time to break stereotypes and time for people to become educated about dance. Football players couldn’t do ballet class.
I completely agree with you and share the same opinion. Back in 2016 during the winter olympics, I remember talking to a girl in my class about the figure skating competition, and some people would interject and disrespect the sport and our conversation by saying that figure skating wasn't a sport. Like dance, figuring skating also roots from the art of performance but is just as competitive and physically grueling as any other sport. I think people are automatically biased in a favor of their own sport which are usually contact and team based, disregarding and consciously being unaware of all the other sports which take a different competitive approach, but all require tremendous physical exertion and mental toughness. Dance is also an aspect of gymnastics and if someone can't understand how strong gymnasts need to be, saying gymnastics isn't a sport, then there is something fundamentally wrong with their understanding of sports. If people want to split sports into various, fine, don't try to redefine a word that's already in the dictionary and therefore diminish the hard-work millions of people put in, create a subcategory based on things like contact, team, and field, without undermining the nature other sports. All in all, I think people just need to be more educated on these less popular sports that deserve the same respect, because if this mentality that dance isn't a sport is actually unrightfully hurting it's industry and fan-base.
ReplyDeleteHi Annabel- I agree with all of your points. I believe that the amount of strength a dancer needs compares to strengths needed for other sports. The amount of intense pain girls who dance have to go through is crazy. I did ballet for around 9 years when i was younger and I remember how much flexibility and strength was needed. I ended up quitting when the work load became to intense for me. The various things that you have to deal with while dancing just proves that it is a sport. I loved your blog and the different points it brought up.
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