Dance: Is it a sport? Just ask the dancers!

The argument over whether dance is a sport has been ongoing for decades, each side having valid arguments. Here are some opinions from a couple of South students who are dancers. Could their statements change your mind?

Dance is a very complex activity with many different moving parts—literally. There are multiple things to keep in check on stage such as facial expression, cues, technique and costumes, all the while remembering which move or step comes next in the routine.

Bella Banion, freshman, dances at Diane’s School of Dance. She said that the studio isn’t competitive in the slightest, a statement that people who don’t think dance is a sport can use to their advantage. 

She also said that the students as well as the teachers at DSOD are like a “family.” Despite the noncompetitiveness at her studio, she considers dance a sport because “you have to be in shape for it.”

Dancing experience can come in many different forms based on the studio. Cassidy Hill, junior, dances at Infinity Dance KC, a competitive dance studio. She said she likes it there because everyone is supportive and they “love the same things.” 

Hill said that dance is a sport because it “requires skill, practice, and working with teammates.”

In response to someone claiming dance isn’t a sport, she said she would tell them how some dancers spend 15-20 hours a week in their studio.

“Respect the craft,” Hill said.

Caroline Bennett, senior, is a dancer at Ibsen Dance Theater, a non-competitive dance studio.

“I love it there because I get to express myself through movement,” she said.

Bennett sees dance as a sport because dancers “practice to show off their skill,” and show it during “a performance instead of a game.”

To people who don’t see dance as a sport, she has this to say: “Take a class. Then tell me.”

South’s students will always be full of opinions and will continue to develop as time goes on. Even though this debate is usually brought on by dancers and other athletes, anybody can have an opinion about anything.

As some of the dancers mentioned, before people claim dance isn’t a sport, perhaps they should put themselves in the dancers’ shoes. Literally.