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Transcription
Dancers are questioning whether their movements should be considered art or sport. They argue that their athleticism and dedication make dance a sport. Dancers train for many hours each week, similar to Olympic athletes. Irish dancing, in particular, is seen as difficult and requires strong core muscles. Competition dance adds stress and requires teamwork. Dancers believe that dance is both an art form and a sport, requiring athleticism and artistic expression. Society often overlooks dance as a sport, but dancers work hard and use cardio, strength, and agility to create beautiful shapes with their bodies. What is a sport, many may ask. It is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another, or others, for entertainment. This is the definition of what a sport is. Who are we? What do we identify as? Are we a sport? Do we represent art? What is dance? The questions at hand make us wonder if we are worthy of the world's unique eye. Dancers are proving to the world of sports that their movements and exercises should fit within the definition of sports. Many may feel bad for dancers knowing that they do not feel like they belong in a certain category when it comes to whether their movements are considered an art or a sport. But I want to show the world how hard dancers work to make their artistic movements into a sport. We work hard to compete against others and to make ourselves better human beings through the practice of movement and athleticism. One may ask what an athlete is to be considered as. It is a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. Dancers are athletes, too. Now, by the time I was about seven years old, I was already training at the national and international level. So, on an average week, I would train about 10 to 12 hours. This is year-round. Now, near a competition, I would train a 16 to 20 hours. And then if you were chosen to be on the world championship team, you just added an additional 20 to 24 hours just over the weekend. Now, let's compare that to the training of an Olympic athlete. They start training at the Olympic level for their sport four to eight years prior to going to the Olympics. As you listen within the clip comparing an Irish dancer who is a national champion to an Olympic athlete, you get a sense that dance is something that is never-ending, and you can always add on to your knowledge and skill set. As most dancers know, Irish dancing is like tap dancing. When it comes to competition dance or recital, it's not the same. Irish dancing is often found even more difficult than modern dancing since it is a more traditional style. This style of dance also involves many muscles like your core to be able to dance in that wild way they do. From experience, being a dancer is not easy. Dancers have to truly link on to this topic and express their opinion through their movement to others. I grew up dancing from an early age of two until I was 18, and fortunately had the opportunity to teach the younger ages when I was 16. Throughout these 16 years, I have learned most modern styles of dance like ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, musical theater, and modern dance. Although every dancer usually specializes in one type of these styles, and for me, that was hip-hop. I was also a competition dancer, which can be vastly different from someone who is just doing the sport to relieve some stress or to do it for fun. By doing competition dance, I gained a lot of stress. Going on road trips to places that were at least two hours away to compete against people we didn't even know and to win these shiny bright awards. I would be in the dance studio for 25 hours a week practicing, exercising, and learning the sport. Taking everything I had into my body, into my knowledge to show my teachers, my audience, and everyone surrounding me that dance is artistic but has to use athletic ability to become artistic. Dance is definitely a sport that will take a toll on your mental and physical health, but it really will help you in the long run. I'm in 12th grade. I've been dancing since 3rd grade, and I see dance as an art form, but it can be as challenging as a sport. I'm a senior in high school. I've been dancing since I was 3. Competition dance is very much like a sport because you have to rely on your team. There's a lot of pressure at a competition, so your teammates are also there for you when things don't go as planned. I'm a sophomore at Sonoma State University, and I've been dancing since I could walk. I see it as an art form that you need to be extremely athletic to be able to execute, but it also requires you to have a message that's more artistic. I'm a sophomore at UCLA. I was dancing since I was like 2 in those Mommy Me classes. I see dance as an art form that is done by athletic performers. Within this clip, you simply can see the different perspectives of how different ages take on the definition of what dance is. It simply is considered to be an art because the movement must look effortless, unlike most sports like football where they simply run into their bodies, into each other, without thinking about it. Each of the dancers who spoke up and stated what they believed dance to be shows us dancers that would believe it is an artistic form, but requires athletic training to take on the task of creating such beautiful moments and movements. Simply from my perspective, dance is a sport that society does not give enough recognition to. Although, do I have to make this art look picturesque with movements from my body? Absolutely! But that does not mean that I get to slack off and lose the ability to create those beautiful shapes with my body. You must put in the athletic effort and use cardio, strength, and agility to fulfill the honor of naming yourself as a dancer. If you are one of those people within society who does not consider dance a sport, then think about this one question. Have you ever attempted to take a dance class or seen a dance class? And then finally, think about it from a dancer's perspective.
