Why I Think Dance is a Sport
When you think ‘sport’ you probably think of football, or basketball, maybe gymnastics. What about dance? A lot of people say that dance isn’t a sport, but I think it is.
The definition of sport is, roughly, any activity that involves a form of physical exertion and skill, where a single person or a team competes against another person or team for entertainment and/or fun. Dance is all of these. Dancing requires a large amount of physical exertion and skill. Lots of dancers compete, and many participate in shows. Dancers are just as strong, sometimes even stronger, than other athletes. Also, just like in any other sport, dancing requires lots of practice to be good.
In a study done by Harvard, it was proved that dancers have about 80% more endurance than football players. And about 70% of ballet dancers over the age of eight have a “six pack,” while only 15% of football players do. And ballerinas were determined to be about 88% stronger than football players.
Some people think that a sport isn’t a sport unless it is in the Olympics. If that were true, then football and soccer wouldn’t be considered to be sports. And if dance has to be in the Olympics in order to be a sport, then a form of dancing already is: ice dancing.
Do you still refuse to believe dance is a sport? Did you know many football players take ballet to improve their performance in football? And several moves in gymnastics were first street dancing moves. Just because dancers don’t tackle each other or kick a ball around doesn’t mean they aren’t athletes. If this doesn’t convince you that dance is a sport, I don’t know what will.
