Dance is a Sport Essay

Dance began as a form of communication and storytelling. Thousands of years ago dancing served as a way for people to tell a story and helped distract themselves of the hardships they faced. Furthermore, dance was a form of storytelling through communication, which then turned into using storytelling through dance as entertainment. According to the History World, many dancers during the BC time danced in front of only a few people to get a story across. That later turned into hundreds of thousands of people as dance was used by many. Today, dance is also a form of entertainment and storytelling, but in a modern sense. However, today perfection and technique are stressed more than they were in the past. Yet, the passion for dance has not changed. Many dancers who share this passion also have many of the same qualities. Among a discourse community of trained dancers, one expects to find individuals who are healthy and active athletes, expect perfection from themselves through competition, and religiously attend dance performances.

What exactly determines whether or not an activity is a sport? The term sport is defined by The Free Dictionary as: A physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively, an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of

“ And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” said by Friedrich Nietzsche. Although many will argue that competitive dancing should be considered an art over a sport, I have a different opinion. Though I do believe that dancing has many qualities that would consider it an art, I still believe that there are even more qualities that should make it considered a sport. Keep in mind that i'm talking about competitive dance, not just a couple classes throughout the week. Competitive dancers go to competitions with a judging system that ensures objectivity, fairness, and transparency. Dancers also require good stamina, speed, flexibility, and muscle. Dance also requires a very strong level of discipline and strength.

Many people consider activities such as, football, baseball, volleyball, and track to be a sport. The qualities that tend to make these activities considered sports are, running, tackling, hitting a ball, participating in relays, and so much more. Not mentioned in this list of sports is dance. People tend to believe that dance is nothing more than moving your body to some music, it is also very mentally engaging as well as being a physically demanding activity. The question that many might ask: Why is dance not classified as a sport? Dancers that compete in competitive situations do not get off as easily as people may think. These dancers require countless hours of exercising, training, and stretching, just as much, if not more, than other sports. To perfect the art of dancing comes with years of training and dedication. With this explanation of the art of dancing, it can be concluded that dance is in fact a sport.

Dance is one of the major things that defines my identity and it is an interest that had become so meaningful, that without it my application would be incomplete. This has been able to shape me throughout the years, from discipline and maturity all the way yo leadership and teamwork. I find dance as an art work, that it is easy to make mistakes and fall, you just have to learn from those mistakes and get up twice as strong as from where you started. Dance is to look above and beyond and just let everything fall into place without hesitation.

Dance demands the same physical skills that are required in other sports. Flexibility, strength, and endurance are key characteristics that most dancers need to posses. As with other “athletes,” most dancers are not born with these abilities but must establish them through practice and repetitive training. Similar to traditional sports practices, dance rehearsals are extensive and require diligence, dedication, and patience from the dancers as they will have to repeat exercises and stretches to perfect their technique and stay on

a) Many ask, “How can dance be a sport? You can't judge on time and the scoring is subjective!” Just like figure skaters, competitive dancers are judged on many criteria: technique, posture, timing, line, hold, poise, togetherness, expression, presentation, power, and foot or leg action. Dancers have a lot on their minds while performing. They are constantly asking themselves, am I extending correctly? Is my technique right? Is my head facing the right direction?

Three laps around the gym, minute long planks, crunches, sit-ups, and pushups in a matter of thirty minutes. As a dancer, experiencing and realizing the strength that needs to be present in order for an athlete to grow is vital. We go through long hours of choreography sessions, pain and strain on our bodies, and vigorous training. Many people will disagree on the status of if dance is a sport or not. Both Mary- Elizabeth Esquibel, in her article “Why Dance Will Always Be a Sport” and the infographic entitled “Is Dance a Sport?” attack this controversial dilemma. Even though these arguments use different formats, they use rhetoric similarly.

Some may argue that dance is an art and not a sport. Yet, it has the same characteristics as a sport does.

Merriam-Webster defines a sport as a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other; in fact Show Choir does all of this. If you go to any Show Choir competition you will see that there is in fact a set of rules in order to compete, these rules do change from each competition at times however every team gets scored by the same set of rules. In order to be in Show Choir you must exert much stamina as well you must be able to perform under the pressure of hundreds of people watching you; which the same can be said about many other sports. Some people may argue that dancing is not a physical activity, but how could that be true? You are physically exerting yourself as well you have to learn an practice everything that you do in Show

So that begs the question, what is a sport? Is it using a ball or scoring goals or running and kicking? Is it competing against others with the aim of winning a trophy, ribbon, or money? If a so-called sport does not include those things, does that make it not a sport? Here is my criteria for a sport: if it is in the Olympics, it is a sport.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, sport means an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. (Strand, Brad, and Christa Sommer. "Should Marching Band Be Allowed to Replace Physical Education Credits: An Analysis." The Physical Educator 62.3 (2005): 164. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.)By society the definition of a sport certain activities like golfing, football, or chess is categorized into these pastimes. Now, there is an activity that uses all aspects of this sporting definition, but many do not consider this a sport. Marching Band is reflected as a sport; however this is controversial in the eyes of many. Standards of sports have changed; the Marching band is a sport and is challenged by being only called a performing art. Therefore PE classes still have to be taken, because high schools do not consider is as a sport. (Strand, Brad, and Christa Sommer. "Should Marching Band Be Allowed to Replace Physical Education Credits: An Analysis." The Physical Educator 62.3 (2005): 164. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.) Marching band can be defined as a sport because it can be used for entertainment purposes, it contains skills in which a team competes against another, and it involves a great deal of physical exertion. Although compared to the amusing aspects of marching band, the competing and physical exertion outweighs the evidence for recreation.

Dance is one of the most beautiful, expressive forms of art known to mankind. It expresses joy, love, sorrow, anger, and the list truly goes on for all the possible emotions that it can convey. Dance not only can express how one feels, but it can tell a story or even be used to praise a higher power. Dance has intricately played an important role to every culture over the course of time. Two forms of dance that have not only stood against the test of time but have influenced the development of other various styles of dance is none other than Classical Ballet and Modern Dance.

Ever wondered what it would be like to leap through life, twirl right through, as if the world has completely stopped around you? To be able to pause everything in a silence that allows you to hear your own heartbeat? The silence on stage as you perform is a sense of peace within your inner body that is being channeled through a movement of effortless motion. In European history, dance was considered to be a way of celebration for many cultures. Although it was said that dance did require physical agility, dancers were never considered athletes because the movement was not taken seriously. Dance did not become popular in a more skillful way until later on. The debate of dance as a sport is very

I attended DancePlus show On Friday December 2, 2011 at 7:30pm at night. It was performed in the Victoria K. Mastrobounno Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There were four different parts that I saw that day. All of the dances were very interesting and very different from each other. All of the dances had its own unique key factor that separated it from each other. I enjoyed the entire show very well. Out of all the dances I had strong reaction to “Lapa’s Lament”. I believe this specific dance stood out to me compared to the other dances from the show. This show had many different factors that stood out from other shows in the entire performance.