Dance Is A Sport Essay

Words: 1696
Pages: 7

Do you enjoy dancing? Have you ever considered taking dance classes or dancing competitively? What stopped you? By most, dance is not viewed as a sport. In fact, dance is not always viewed as an acceptable choice when considering a new sport or physical activity to pursue. Which is too bad because that might lead to someone missing out on an incredible opportunity or passion. The consideration of dance being a sport has been a hotly debated topic for quite some time. Dance is a sport because it has the same competitive nature that a sport requires and additionally it requires the same athleticism, skill, and dedication to practice that other sports require.
When considering the various arguments about the validity of dance being a sport
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Kottler writes that competitions in dance, “ruin the art of dance and completely remove the soul and emotion necessary in the art of ballet.” She goes on to write, “Competitions simply highlight the athleticism of ballet and limit dancers to only performing tricks.” She has a fair argument if you do not consider the fact that dance competitions actually encourage the portrayal of the emotions she writes about. At dance competitions, dancers are scored based on a number of factors. Among those factors are skill, technique, and even how well they portray the necessary emotions for the dance. The more emotion that dancers put into their dance, the better the dance is going to be. Dancers are athletic, but when they dance properly they also make you feel something. In an article entitled "'Glitz and Glamour' or Atomic Rearrangement: What Do Dance Audiences Want?" the author writes about judging dance competitions, “She likes dance to be unpredictable and to actively hold her attention: ‘In a good piece of dance I expect there to be stuff there that keeps me awake, keeps me looking, keeps me listening’” (26). Dancers often tell a story when they dance. When they do all this properly, it contributes to the dancer getting a better score. Therefore, dancers are actually motivated to portray emotions when they