A common debate among individuals, usually which of whom are involved in sports, is whether or not dance is considered a sport.

Many people overlook the difficulty of dance, categorizing it as just an art. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Dance requires all of these things and more, so to not recognize it as a sport is simply ignorant.

“It’s very competitive. We’re always training and working ourselves to the full extent,” Keagan Spencely, freshman, said. 

Just like with other sports, it is nearly impossible to truly grasp the intensity, work ethic and stamina required to become a dancer unless you’ve been one yourself. 

The audience sits back and admires the beauty of the performance, unaware of the amount of pain these dancers endured in the process. Although dance appears glamorous and easy on stage, the path to get there is most definitely not.

Dancers not only have to train hard in and outside of class, but they also have to memorize choreography. Having the ability to learn and memorize choreography takes stamina and skill. Plus, many routines include tricks such as aerials, different kinds of turns and jumps/leaps. Most dancers are expected to already have these skills, and if not, to learn them outside of class.

Although it may appear to be easy, something seemingly as simple as a double pirouette can take up to years to perfect.

Depending on the level of dance, some dancers may also be expected to take additional classes to help with the ones they are currently taking. 

These classes take away from the personal lives of dancers, often leaving them fatigued and drained.

Many dancers also participate in competitions such as regional and national competitions.

Not only is dance physically exhausting, it can be mentally exhausting as well.

“During practice, we always try to give our best but it takes a lot of mental game as we do almost everything full out,” Emorie Leysock, senior captain of the dance team, said.

Some also believe that people who don’t qualify dance as a sport often have sexist reasoning behind their opinion, as women make up 73.4% of the dance population and men only make up 26.6%.

“I feel put down when I hear people say dance isn’t a sport,” Spencely said. “We are working just as much, if not more than any other sport.”

Dance is not only an artistic expression but also a sport, and to refer to it as anything less is to discredit the dedication and skill of dancers. Dancers work just as hard as any other sport and they deserve to be recognized as something more than just an “artistic expression.”