Why Dance Should Be Considered as a Sport Essay

Introduction

Dance is a sequence of rhythmic movements and steps usually performed to music for pleasure or as a form of social interaction. The dance was introduced in the mid-19th century in Britain in the playing fields and sports clubs by middle- and upper-class boys and men. (Adams,2005). By the 20th century, the British model of men sport has spread in Europe and North America as well as the British colonies. (Adams,2005). It was introduced to teach young men to use their bodies instrumentally rather than expressively to subdue emotions and become tough and strong. However, questions arise as to whether dance is a sport or not. A sport is a participation in activities requiring physical skills and regulated by a set of rules in which individuals or teams compete against each other. Dance requires the same physical skills as other sports hence should be considered as a sport.

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Dance as a Sport: Debunking the Misconceptions

Most of the time dance is considered art since many artists create choreography so that dancers would perform the piece in front of the audience and make it look beautiful and more appealing. It should be also be considered as a sport since it requires rigorous training. In any sport, practice is required before the actual event. As in soccer, payers have to train before the game to play for an extended period. Likewise, the dancers have to make themselves prepared to dance for long hours. There are specific exercises dances have to do to condition themselves and prepare for non-stop dancing like in performances and competitions. For example, a ballet dancer has to do yoga exercises to improve flexibility since that is the key to the dance. A dancer is an athlete since they are trained to contest in activities involving physical agility, stamina or strength as the athletes. All the practicing helps them prepare well to perform their best while on stage.

Any sport involves a specific technique for effectiveness and to win. Likewise, in dance, there are multiple techniques one need to in order to execute specific steps correctly. Not everyone can dance perfectly without a foundation and proper instruction first. This explains why its important for dancers to have trained professionals to coach them how to execute certain best moves as smooth as possible to avoid getting hurt.

In any sport, injuries cause a big inconvenience to players. They see them out of competition for weeks or even months. Dance have similar repercussions of injuries. When dancers get hurt, they risk to able to dance for some time while other injuries may be fatal to end some of the dancer's carrier. (Motta-Valencia,2006). As in sports, to cases of injuries, one should make sure they are stretching muscles appropriately while in the activity. Often dancers are advised to do leg stretching worm up before intense dancing. (Motta-Valencia,2006). Also, dancers do strength exercises like ankle strengthening for stable ankles in order to easily to certain movements.

Not only dance involve intense physical aspects, but it also requires mental skills. (Stoeber,2014). As players have to memorize certain plays in any sport to win, dancers must be able to remember choreography and positioning of the dance while performing to each step. (Guarino,2015). Like in ballet, one has memorized every move and the steps in rotation of legs.

Dance Competitions: A Display of Skill and Artistry

Dancers are now participating in dance competitions, justifying the last part of sports definition. Dance is an art that has evolved. The competitions have proven sports element in dance. (Guarino,2015). Clear winners emerge from these competitions just like other sports based on creativity, right techniques, and available rules and regulation, not just random.

Many gymnastics moves have incorporated in dance-like kicks Latin American dance and impressive micro moves in jazz dance. (Angioi et al.,2009). In some ways, dance has similar aspects as gymnastics which is a significant sport in the Olympics. They both require time and effort to perfection it.

However, some arguments have come firmly to disregard dance as a sport. They regard it as an art rather than a sport since it does not have the game aspect of scoring. (Guarino,2015). For an activity to be a sport, it should have a scoring method and a form of target. Sports are won by specific events happening while in dancing one win through the opinions of judges.

Also, its argued sport involves contact which is not the case in dancing. Sports like football, softball or wrestling involves contact with the ball or with another player. (Ingram,1978). This argument has disregarded dancing as a sport since no contact is involved. Instead, the skills of the dancer are involved in determining the winner.

Dancing should be regarded as a sport because it involves skills that are instilled and needs to be perfect for the moves to be accurate to the beat. Different dancing moves have experts who impart the skills to the trainees for instance, traditional and cultural dances of different communities and the modern dancing styles (Guarino,2015). Our youths have fallen in love with for recreation and entertainment. Also, for one to be a great dancer needs to have a flexible body, a great sense of endurance and stamina and above all, they love what they do and are passionate about it. The fact that dance should be regarded as a sport is not enough to disqualify dancing as an art.

Conclusion

Dancing is a skill that many people are involved in, loved and mastered by many and have taken it as a career. Choreography has also taken deep meaning in the sense that choreographers have made it art that they teach dancing enthusiasts and most contemporary artists. Dance should be considered a sport since it has similar components to any other sport.

References

Adams, M. L. (2005). 'Death to the Prancing Prince': Effeminacy, Sport Discourses and the Salvation of Men's Dancing. Body & Society, 11(4), 63-86.

Angioi, M., Metsios, G., Koutedakis, Y., & Wyon, M. A. (2009). Fitness in contemporary dance: Pica, R. (1988). Dance Training for Gymnastics. Leisure Press, PO Box 5076, Dept. 513, Champaign, IL 61820. A systematic review. International journal of sports medicine, 30(07), 475-484.

Gard, M. (2001). Dancing around the'problem'of boys and dance. Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education, 22(2), 213-225.

Guarino, L. (2015). Is dance a sport?: A twenty-first-century debate. Journal of Dance Education, 15(2), 77-80.

Gurley, V., Neuringer, A., & Massee, J. (1984). Dance and sports compared: Effects on psychological well-being. Journal of sports medicine, 24, 58-68.

Ingram, A. (1978). Dance and sport. International Review of Sport Sociology, 13(1), 85-97.

Mattsson, T., & Lundvall, S. (2015). The position of dance in physical education. Sport, Education, and Society, 20(7), 855-871.

Motta-Valencia, K. (2006). Dance-related injury. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics, Russell, J. A. (2013). Preventing dance injuries: current perspectives. Open access journal of sports medicine, 4, 199. 17(3), 697-723.

Stoeber, J. (2014). Perfectionism in sport and dance: A double-edged sword. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 45(4), 385-394.

Zenic, N. (2010). Comparative analysis of substance use in ballet, dance sport, and synchronized swimming: results of a longitudinal study. Medical problems of performing artists, 25(2), 75-81.