Dance Thread

Some say that dance isn't a sport. Well to those who think it is, heres a thread for you. :)

So what kind of dancing do you do? I do Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Pointe, Hip hop, Tap and Modern. I have been dancing for about 14 years.

I've done tap and Ballet. I'm not doing any currently, but I still remember a ton of tap. (not very much ballet. I remember I didn't like it very much. I'm not flexible so I didn't do very well)

I once tried to learn salsa... And that of one-two-three was too much for me! I'd love to learn tango, but I'm so hopelessly clumsy that I don't think it possible. Pity.

Dance is a performance art, not a sport.

Dance is a performance art, not a sport.

I think dance is a sport, but I suppose it depends on how you classify sport. I don't really see a difference between dancing and a sport like soccer. You train hard, you compete and you work as a team. It requires the same level of fitness as a lot of sports and huge amounts of time spent on practicing. I have 23 hours of dance classes this week and at least 4 hours most weeks all for a 50min show. This compared to my brother's one hour of soccer practice. It depends how you see it though!

I've been dancing for 15 years.
Tap, ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, acro, salsa.

Basically, tap is my life.
I teach 18 hours a week and dance 26.
(Yes, I have no life)

I've finally been persuaded to audition for University, for dance.
Two years later and maybe I will actually have a career doing what I love.

As for the sport/artform arguement.
It's official, dance is a sport. (Google it :))

Well now, I have been dancing for almost 43 years and I have been teaching for 30 years! I began studying seriously from the age of 11 and attended a vocational theatre school where I studied, ballet, modern, jazz, tap, contemporary and national dance, Oh and we also did some ballroom dancing too, but no one ever took it seriously.:lol: I now teach children from 3 years old upwards to advanced level in ballet, modern and jazz, and I love it! :love: Every day I consider myself so lucky to have this job!

To those who think of dance a sport I must respectfully disagree. :) I know nowdays it has become popular to do so, although I have no idea why. It is almost as if dance can only be taken seriously if it is described as a sport instead of an art form. Sport and dance do have certain elements in common, the obvious being the physical effort involved, but the distinction to me is that good dance is expressive. A dancer does not just move around to music but should express either, a mood, role, emotion or idea. Here are some quotes from people who can express this in words better than me. I'm so much better at expressing myself in dance. :D


I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what it too deep to find for words. ~Ruth St. Denis

To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak. ~Hopi Indian Saying

There are likewise three kinds of dancers: first, those who consider dancing as a sort of gymnastic drill, made up of impersonal and graceful arabesques; second, those who, by concentrating their minds, lead the body into the rhythm of a desired emotion, expressing a remembered feeling or experience. And finally, there are those who convert the body into a luminous fluidity, surrendering it to the inspiration of the soul. *Isadora Duncan*

All dance has expression. If there is no expression, I prefer the circus. The performers do more dangerous, more difficult technical things than we do. But we are dancers. We have to express and we have to project. *Luis Fuente*

I think dance is a sport, but i think its more than that, and i agree with the comment about it being a performing art as well. No its not a sport in the sense that theirs equiptment (even though their technically is) and some sort of ball, but is a physical activity and therefore is a sport.

As for me I danced for 15 years growing up. I took ballet tap jazz and pointe, and at my high point i was dancing 6hours of class a week plus another 5-10 hours of rehearsal for dance troupe, It was crazy. I took a break in college, but towards then end started getting back into ballet. Then i took another short break and now im back into ballet again and am thinking about picking up tap soon as well, i really miss it.

I also tried to learn salsa and swing at one point, but i think i do better when im choreographed, I think too much when a dance so im bad at ad lid and going with the flow.

I dance ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and modern, and I absolutely love it!:love:

I'm even more excited because I've been cast at Clara in The Nutcracker this year!

I think dance is a sport just as much as football, or basketball. I once heard that if dance was easy, they'd call it football! :lol: Dance is hard, and you train numerous hours. I think that some people just think dance is easy, but it's not. I'd like to see pro football players try ballet!

I dance Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Lyrical and a little bit of hip hop here and there.

I've been dancing ballet since I was 11 but before that I was a figure skater so I like to believe that gave me an edge over other late starters. And this year Im really excited to be a Majorette after a year off. : ]

Dance doesn't have recognizable sports equipment or "fantasy ballet leagues" on ESPN, but it requires just as much physical discipline, training, and hard work as any other sport out there. People consider skiing a sport but that's just strapping some slippery sticks on your feet and speeding down a mountain. How is skiing a sport (I love skiing by the way, not bashing it) but dancing isn't?

The two major definitions I've found of the activity "sport" are as follows: (a) "An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively" and (b) "An active pastime; recreation." Dance fits into both of these categories, especially as defined using a set of rules or customs. There are different styles of dance that each have their own set of rules. When you see different versions, it's merely different interpretations on those rules (and these variations are generally seen at competitions... wink wink).

Anyhoo, that's my two cents. I was the manager for my High School's drill team and escorted the team to numerous competitions each year. I never danced myself, unless you count the great stage of my living room floor, but always loved it. I think the non-believers out there only see dance as a performance art, which it is in part, but don't see the physical exertion that goes into the practice.

I've been dancing for most of my life, but ballet is my favorite(:

Some people just can't understand us dancers and why we do it, but dance is just so freeing!!

I dance pointe, modern, jazz, ballet, sometimes African, and occasionally musical theater. Training to be in A Very Potter Musical! (I wish)