Essay on Is Dance a Sport?

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.

Dance clearly fits within the definition of sport unlike other so called sports such as chess. How can chess be considered a sport? How many chess players do you see participating in physical exertion during their games? Not only are undeserving hobbies being considered sports over dance, so too are activities which are similar to dance in many aspects yet we as dancers don't get any

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.

In the words of Martha Graham, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” When a dancer starts dancing, their mind doesn't work and they have no control of their actions when dancing. Millions of people dance around the world, but some people don't respect how hard these dancers work and the energy that goes into doing the dance. According to Cathy Levy the producer, dance programmer dancers must have a rigorous training regime and must stay in top condition just like professional athletes such as basketball or hockey players. Some people say that dance isn’t a sport because it's not in the Olympics, but football and baseball are not in the Olympics.

What do most people believe the definition of a sport as? The definition of a sport is this, “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Ok look at the first part of the definition it says activity involving physical exertion, cheer leading could be considered that depending on what kind of cheer leading you are doing. If you are doing like stunting that has a lot of activity involving physical exertion, because we are taking people and putting them in the air to do certain movements. The second part says “skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. There is competitive cheerleading were you compete against other teams for certain titles. From the dictionary definition you could say cheerleading is a sport then.

But nobody has ever asked, how is it not a sport? In this era if someone goes around and asks if football was a sport, about nine times out of ten that person would receive a look of confusion for why he or she does not know this answer. But, what is the difference between football and dance or baseball and dance? Both activities require tough practices, hard work and dedication, sweat, and maybe even some tears. Even though dance and classified sports have all those things In common, that’s not enough for

Some forms can be that dance is a beautiful form of art, it is definitely qualified as a sport for fun, as a hobby, as a passion or even go for a career in dance.("Dancers as Athletes.") Some of these dance forms may be less intense then others. However, many people are unaware and uninformed about how serious and competitive the dance world can be. Dancers have the same demands on their bodies, health, diet, self esteem and self discipline as any other athlete. (A.Y. Chu and C.H. Wang).

The definition of a sport is an activity that uses physical skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. When normal people think of dance they imagine ballerinas on a stage with puffy tutus and ballet shoes on, while dancers would imagine a totally different image. As a dancer you have a different perspective of your sport than any other non-dancer does just like an athlete of another sport. The question is dance a sport is asked everyday by dancers to other people and with the definition of a sport, dance falls into it that category perfectly. Dance 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?

An individual may define dancing as the movement of one’s feet and body, usually accompanied by music. To me, dancing has a more broader meaning. Dance is a unique type of art that involves challenging practices, callused feet, muscles that will be sore for weeks, beauty marks we call bruises, blisters, blood, bedazzled costumes, competitive competitions, and a family of beautiful dancers who share the same passion as you.

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

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

“I am very obsessed with ballet now because it is a very difficult sport, and a beautiful one because it is not about money. It 's not like playing football or tennis - dance has no sponsors, it 's just for the beauty. Maybe it is the only last pure sport,” states Carine Reitfeld, editor-in-chief of Vogue-Paris. Although not explicitly mentioned, Reitfeld is uncovering one of the dance industry’s largest debates: is dance a sport or an art? When asking this question one receives quite an ambiguous answer. Dance is more than just a sport, yet not purely an art. The art of dance came much earlier before the sport, beginning thousands of years ago as discovered in ancient Indian cave paintings. Throughout history, dance was a form of

Dancers everywhere are getting injured and ending their careers. Why? Because dance instructors aren’t requiring conditioning classes. Dancers are athletes too, and should be taking classes to strengthen their bodies to protect against injuries and speed recovery. No one’s career should end by something they could’ve prevented.

Even if it has specific sub-genres with set guidelines and expected characteristics like other forms of visual and performing arts, dancers have the will to choose not follow them as often and as strictly if they please. They’re allowed the freedom of expression as well as the freedom to even create new forms of dance.