Is Competitive Dance A Sport

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.

Dance has been around for a long time, it is older than many other popular sports we have. It takes on the physical capacity to be labeled as a sport, and yet in most cases, it is not. It is one of the few activities that is both a sport and an art, but it is given very little respect as a sport. Dance has evolved in a number of ways throughout time, but it has always been through a meaning. Whether that be dancing for love or faith, or dancing for first place.

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.

Albert Einstein once said “Dancers are the athletes of God.” Dancers deserve to have the title of athlete, to start, take a look at the definition of an athlete “a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength” (dictionary). While dancing requires great artistry, artistry is just one aspect of dance, because there is clearly an athletic side as well. Dancers athletic side is not seen by many because of the reality of what is seen on stage, but is what is seen on stage all of it? The amount of passion and dedication dancers have leads to countless hours at the studio every week. With the many genres of dance to choose from, each involve athleticism one way or another. The many different options make it easier for a dancer to branch out and explore new ways of fulfilling their dreams. Dancers need to stop being underestimated by everyone, they need everyone to see them as athletes and artists.

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

It became personal at some point because it felt like all the hard work I did just went down the drain. The definition for the word sport is an athletic activity requiring skill or physical talent and often of a competitive nature. Why isn’t dance a part of the sport genre.

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

Dance should be considered a sport. Dance is always been an art, but if it were considered a sport, people would see how much it takes to be a dancer. It doesn’t just require a passion for it. Athletes with the strength, the drive and the determination to continue, like In any other sport.

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.

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.

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?

Dancing is the movement of one’s body in a rhythmic way. The art of dancing is performed by skillful dancers who can turn the movements into something expressive. Many have said that dancing is not a sport; some say it in a positive way and some in a negative way. Most dancers argue that dancing is a sport. The positive people would say dancing is not a sport because it is art; however, the negative people claim that dancing is not a sport because it does not involve physical contact like football, or the blood, sweat, and tears in the hot sun like other outside sports.

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

Dance. Is it a sport or an art? Most of you sitting there are probably going to roll your eyes and think to yourself "No, there is absolutely no way dance could possibly be a sport! There is no athleticism, strength, skill, endurance, or muscle involved; therefore, dance is an art." Well I am here to tell you how completely wrong you are. Dance is not only an art, but a very physically and mentally demanding sport.

With such an atypical style, dance can be found in various forms. Dance can be entertainment, tradition, recreation, a competitive event, or even a simple act of joy. So should dance be classified as a sport....or what? Many people believe that dance is a "cute" activity that is "fun" but shouldn't be taken seriously. Why is this? Dance has been around for generations, but, as it seems, dance is still a thing of the past, that hasn't caught up with modern trends. Although dance may be considered old-fashioned - should dance be excluded