Dance Is A Sport!

By Samantha Knight

““If Dance were any easier… If Dance were any easier… It would be called football”It would be called football”Although.. This quote is more for the

humor then the truth.. Football is a demanding sport that

requires; endurance, stamina, flexibility, strength, and many hours of practice.

Just as demanding, Dance, requires all the same things.

We, Dancers believe that our sport is just as hard as any other and requires just as much determination and self discipline. We sweat, practice, train hard, strive to succeed, and compete therefore, dance is a sport.

What is a Sport?

o A sport according to Webster’s Dictionary is an athletic activity or physical prowess and often of competitive nature.

How is dance similar to other

sports………?

Dance Requires StrengthDance, in its own way, is just as physical as any contact sport. Football and other sports require complete power strength,

but in dance, it is all about control strength. It is not easy to lift your leg to your head and hold it there while standing en Pointe

Dance Requires many hours of practice…And many strenuous training techniques.

A dance season is basically all year around, the only breaks we get is the holiday breaks and a few weeks off during the summer.

We Practice for hours, to only perform a three minute performance.

Although our performances look effortless on stage they were far from it Those three minutes on stage took months of preparation, hours of strenuous rehearsals, and years of practicing the proper techniques.

Each dance studio has its own competition line, this is our team. Just like a basketball team or a football team, we are devoted to our sport and we spend hours practicing together so that we can be the best we can be.

But unlike a normal sports team, we do not have bench warmers, everybody dances and everybody has to be at similar levels. We work hard so that we do not let our team down, we are like a family.

Even though we practice for hours at the studio we still go home and practice practice practice. This might sound crazy but it is the truth.

Just like in any other sport each person has to pull their own weight, if one person is one count behind then we all look bad.

IT IS A TEAM EFFORT!!!

Injuries Injuries happen very often.. Some are

unavoidable… Pulled muscles, Sprained and broken ankles,

jammed fingers, bruised legs, Broken wrists… just a few among the many injuries that could occur during a performance

Dancers feet are a whole different story… Your feet can end up looking like this from Pointe shoes!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DANCE AND DIFFERENT SPORTS…

A basketball player trains hard, but on the court still looks like a person dribbling and dunking a ball to earn points.

A football player is full of strength and practices for hours, but on the field still looks like a person with a ball running to get a touchdown.

A runner can be fast as lightening, but on the track they look like a person running to get to the finish line.

Athletes look like they are playing a sport; they do not look like the sport itself.

DANCE LIKE NOBODY’S WATCHING……..

In our playing field is a stage of dance floor. Our goal is to not just look like a person spinning and jumping it is much more than that.

As a dancer you have to have the major power and still have the elegance of swan. Also we have to learn how to communicate a story to the audience through our movement.

Sports like football and basketball don’t have to worry about those things; they are allowed to show their strength. They do not have to ‘look good’ when they perform. They are allowed to have messy hair, sweat, make ugly faces, get filthy dirty and scream when their in pain, not us.

Those behaviors on stage and even in class are not acceptable! And when we suffer an injury or are in pain during a performance, we have to keep smiling and keep going because the show must go on.

CONCLUSION

Once a dancer, always a dancer. Even when your 50 years old with fake knees your mind will never stop dancing. In my mind dancers are some of the hardest working athletes you will ever find and dance, itself has made its transition from a traditional art form to a well loved competitive sport.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is Dance a Sport?