Is Dance Really A Sport?

This question has been the subject of ongoing debate. Why are so many people skeptical of it? When people think of sport they think of; good bodies, strict diets, tough training, competitions and possible professional careers. When actually comparing dance to sport a lot of similarities are uncovered to support that dance really is a sport.

Television has recognized that dance is a sport, but are selling it to the public as entertainment only; almost like putting a safety blanket around them. They telecast competitions like the National Dance Sport Championships, commonly known as ballroom national finals, which have commentators and presenters known to common audiences mixed in with the real veterans of dance sport commendation. Dancing with the Stars is another program that is using this safety blanket: people vote for their favourite ballroom dance, but they are shown all the hard work that goes on throughout the week and the stars who participate, including sporting stars, let it be known. The Biggest Loser recently as a reward for winning the weigh in, recently took the winning red team to a dance class as a good workout that would still be fun. Some people may say that this is not supporting dance as a sport, but it can be seen as it is due to the fact that they use mainstream sports as well; so people connect the two subconsciously. The new program So You Think You Can Dance is a little less subtle, despite the public voting process. It is purely a televised competition to find a dancer who is versatile and talented enough to do all different dances and work. It is basically an elongated televised audition tweaked for audience entertainment, but it really gets down to the essence of the industry as much as an entertainment program can. What it shows hopefully gets through to people about how much of a sport dance really is.

Preparation is a part of almost anything you will ever do, whether it is sports day, swimming carnivals or the Olympics, preparation