As a former dancer I get very frustrated when people say that dancing isn’t a sport, (the definition of sport is; an activity involving physical exertion and skill). I ask them why they say that. One answer I’ve gotten was, “There is no offense or defense.” I’ve also gotten the answer, “Dancing doesn’t involve any muscles.” The first thought that crossed my head was, “Of course it does, just walking involves muscles.”
“Physical demands placed on the bodies of dancers have been shown to make them just as susceptible as football players to injury,” According to the website stopsportsinjuries
Dance is also an art because while you’re dancing you are telling a story through the choreography and your facial expressions. Dancing also is a good way to communicate your emotions. Another important thing to mention in dancing, is the musicality, awareness of music and rhythm. When I danced, some dancers were so passionate about it that you could just see it in their faces, and it made the dance so much better. Sometimes it would bring the audience to tears. I remember one of the dancers at my studio had a solo and every time she would come off the stage crying, dance is also very challenging.
In dance, you have to suck in your gut and keep it like that for the duration of the number. While dancing, you also have so much going through your mind. You have to know the routine, you have to be aware of every muscle and what it needs to be doing, and you need to be aware of your spacing if you’re with a group of people. Ballet has also been proven to be helpful to football players, because ballet and football use most of the same muscle groups. Both these sports need finesse, speed, balance, strength, flexibility, and mental focus according to the website ballethub.
Finesse- Finesse is defined as; intricate and refined delicacy. It’s used in ballet to look flowing, physically powerful, in control, and use muscles efficiently, and for football they can use finesse to move about the field without using much muscle, and tiring themselves out.
Speed- ballet dancers know relaxed muscles move quicker than tense ones, this is a good idea for football players to execute instead of tensing muscles which slow you down.
Balance- in ballet balance helps dancers keep their footing, and in football it can help with better balance in footing or jumping to catch a pass.
Strength- it’s important because in ballet it often requires precise and quick movements and smaller “quick-fire” muscles are particularly useful to offensive players in football.
Flexibility- In ballet flexibility provides benefits as it would target muscles that help football players that they hadn’t previously stretched.
Mental focus- in football a football player must hear a play and quickly put it in action then carry it out flawlessly. Like in ballet, a teacher has to make combination’s involving a variation of steps requiring you to think what you have to do then complete the combination perfectly.
People say dance not a sport because everyone can do it. Even though that’s true I disagree because almost everyone can run, but not everyone runs well, and we consider that a sport. Other people say that dance is not a sport because they think it’s easy or it doesn’t involve any muscle. During a typical ballet class a dancer uses their quadriceps and hamstrings, hip and gluteal muscles, calves and feet, and back and core, and most dancers practice five to ten hours a week.
“To be able to dance well, one needs to be flexible, strong, have stamina, have endurance and most importantly have a love for what they do,” said Jenna Garecht in the “Huffington Post.”
I danced for ten years and everything I learned or did was hard and involved muscles. Especially if you’re in competitive dance you have to be judged on choreography, technique, costumes, timing, spacing and a lot more. Also if you have multiple routines you are doing you have to remember every routine and do it.