If someone was to ask you if you belong to a sports team and you answered, "I’m on a Dance Team”, they’d tell you that dance is not a sport but it is an art. My answer to that question would be that it’s both. Dance is a competitive sport. It has a set of rules. You can compete in a large group, as a soloist or in a duet or trio as well. Dancing requires strength, endurance, agility, dedication, skill, co-ordination and your body must be in top condition. You could hurt yourself in dancing just as easily as you can clap your hands together, yet most people do not recognize it as a sport.
In every sport, just as in dance, you risk getting injured. Isn’t it odd that most of dance injuries are classified as sports injuries? There are dozens of injuries that can happen in football. There are just as many in dance.
People think that the ability to dance is not unique. This is not true. Anyone can dribble a basketball, and anyone can shoot a puck, and everyone can play these games if they want to participate. Yet, only the best people compete in those sports. Comparatively, few people participate in dance for recreation. Many competitive dancers practice for five hours a day to perfect their technique, while some rep hockey teams practice five hours in a week. How else are you going to spin around eight times and not fall over? It also takes a lot of flexibility
If dance fits the definition of a sport, if dancers fit the definition of athletes, if dancers are being injured and treated for sports injuries like other athletes, and if dance is participated in all over the world then why isn’t dance considered a sport? Dance is a form of celebration. It is artistic. It takes endurance and strength. It has rules. It is a competition to be the best, so why isn’t it an art and a sport? Dancers have lost out on many opportunities to show the world what they can do. Dance is a sport.
