Did you know that a professional Ballet dancer is more physically fit than an Olympic athlete? (Scienedaily) If Albert Einstein referred to dancers as “the athletes of God”, then why does our society fail to respect dance as a sport? Dancing as a career requires an incredible amount of dedication and mental resolve, just like Olympic sports. Even before reaching professionalism a ballet student will train up to eight hours a day! (Womack) Because there are very few jobs available in the field, pre-professional dancers must also be very competitive in order to succeed. Ballet should be recognized as a sport due to the fitness, dedication, and competition involved. An important part of every sport is the physical toll it takes on it’s participants and the incredible physical condition required of them. Inarguably, Olympic sports require first-rate physical condition of their participants. Similarly, the physical demands of Ballet necessitate top- notch fitness levels. Evidence of this physical prowess may be found in a study conducted by the University of Hertfordshire. This study confirmed that professional Ballet dancers are more physically fit than Olympic athletes! If the world held any doubts as to the physical hardships of Ballet they were extinguished by the results of this study.(Sciencedaily) Another testimony to Ballet’s difficulty is given by Steve McClendon, an NFL player who takes Ballet for cross- training, and admitted that “Ballet was the hardest thing he did”. (Katzowitz 1) Certainly if a professional football player respects ballet in this way, football fans should as well! Clearly the physical demands of Ballet should qualify it as a sport. Anothe... ... middle of paper ... ...d be enough to gain the respect of the public. Another justification is the dedication required for Ballet. It is an inarguable fact that all sports require dedication. The many sacrifices made by Ballet dancers and the devotion of an immense amount of their time are things that they all have in common. This dedication should be recognized when questioning whether or not ballet is a sport. Competiveness is one more characteristic of Ballet. The competition seen in other sports is also evident in Ballet. Since competition is such an important factor of sports, it’s presence in Ballet is not to be ignored. These reasons all lead us to one conclusion: Ballet is a sport. The fact that Ballet is also an art does not compromise this conclusion in any way. Therefore, I implore you to give Ballet your full respect as the sport that it is.
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
By universal definition, "sport" is listed as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively." Football, basketball, baseball, soccer and other primary activities have always been concretely defined as sports in society. However, one of the most physically demanding activities is constantly forgotten when it comes to the realm of sports- dance. Dance requires a tremendous amount of training and creates an aura of competition in which people compete to be the best, win, and take home the trophy- just like in traditionally accepted sports. These sports, however, do not possess an element of psychological health threats that some competitive dancers unfortunately must account for due to the emphasis placed on physical appearance.
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
This movie opened my eyes to how our two worlds, both ballet and color guard, are not so different after all. We are always willing to improve, even if we consider ourselves “professionals,” we are willing to adjust choreography without argument, as well as speak-up when
Aalten, A. (2005). In the presence of the body: Theorizing training, injuries and pain in ballet. Dance Research Journal, 37(2), 55-72. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20444641
Li’s passion for ballet shows on and off stage through his arabesques, flexibility, fouettés, grande jeté and pirouettes that were nothing less than perfection. I understood that becoming a dancer requires commitment, passion and having a great memory as there’s many moves, routines and ballet terms that you need to learn. When I was performing on stage, I felt free and that I could own the stage as it felt like it was my second home. I also felt complete within myself just as Li felt. To perform on stage, you need to be light and graceful along with connecting to the music using precise steps, poses and formal gestures. The film used dance, music, scenery, and costumes to portray a story characterised by Li’s dance. Classical ballet dancers require the utmost grace and I’ve found that you also need a tremendous level of concentration and memory. This portrays when his choreographer Ben Stevenson asked Li Cunxin to replace the main male role due to an injury on the day of the performance to memorise new dances and perform them in front of an enormous crowd. Many of my performances have been in a group where we all need to be in sync and work together. This film highlighted that in order to become a professional ballet dancer, you have to prepare to work extremely hard no matter how gruelling the schedule is in order to
The Pressures of Dancers The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the “stars”. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes a lot of hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price.
Miami Dade College’s very own dance majors, who were challenged by the artistry of guest choreographers as well as themselves, performed The Art of Dance. Watching this performance truthfully made me question if the dancers in this program were being trained properly to be professional dancers
Russian ballet took a big hit with the defections of many stunning dancers. Now though, Russian Ballet has boomed with bigger, better dancers popping up all over Russia. All across the world little girls dream of being a ballerina dancing with their prince across a bright stage, their costumes glittering with jewels. The reality is it takes years of blood, sweat, tears, and hard work to even get a shot of being on that stage. Even if you get there, the fight to get to the top level is hard, and to stay there is even harder. Dancers need to stand up for their rights
“I have been a dancer since I was four, a coach at the age of sixteen, a studio owner for a short time in my twenties and now I run the show.” Stated Macy when asked about her experience in dance. For eight years Macy has set up and managed dance competitions all over the United States. Although Macy’s job might sound like a dream come true to a person who has danced their whole life, the job does not come without complications. According to Macy, in the business of dance competitions many are unaware of what takes place behind the scenes, including long hours of office work, traveling to and running each show, and maintaining relationships and productivity with
I don not remember everything I am taught, but when it comes to the ballet and the classics like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Notre Dame de Paris, I enjoy watching every minute of the performance. Truly To enjoy the ballet or even an opera, there has to be an enjoyment of classical music. The two go hand in hand. I can close my eyes, listen to the music, and see myself dancing. It's a feeling of floating above and watching the performance as if I am the best dancer. To understand and appreciate the ballet, there has to be some sense of the history behind it all. To have a perfect ballet there needs to be; a good choreographer, a story line, the perfect music that flows with the story line and last of all the dancer who can interpret the theme. There is so much more than can be learned by reading the history of the ballet and the dancers who make it all come alive, even in a dream. Ballet can give a sense of peace, even if it's for only a few hours.
Many people think Dance is an art because ballet is an art and ballet is a type of Dance. So people are focusing on this one thing and are not considering the other things and perspective and types of Dance they are just focusing on that one. I do agree that ballet is an art but that does not mean Dance is too. Ballet is an art because people will sit through 2-3 hour shows that tell a story like the Nutcracker, Coppelia, Swan Lake and Cinderella and many more. Just because one thing is not a sport does not mean the rest isn’t
Ballet first originated in Italy in the 1400’s, its purpose was to impress the nobility of other countries. The ballerinas would wear the fashion of the times, with big dresses, wigs, and shoes that were not good for dancing in. Ballet was brought to France when Catherine de Medicis married King Henri II. She brought the culture of ballet with her to Paris. Eventually Paris became the capitol of the ballet world. Up until 1681 all of the female ballet roles were played by men. Many people fell in love with ballet. George Balanchine brought ballet to America.
Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn).
Maling, Michel. "Ballet Dancing and Injury Prevention." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Web. 07 June 2010. http://ezinearticles.com/?Ballet-Dancing-and-Injury-Prevention&id=3861053