Dance has grown to be a very popular activity that many younger kids have found interesting and creative. Although there are many controversial topics in the dance world, including the debate related to it being a female-dominated art, the biggest one continues to be whether it is a sport or not. Being a well-rounded dancer myself, I know that it is a sport and has many characteristics that make it fit into the category. I also am able to dive deeper and include it in the art category due to it allowing many to express their emotions, even if dealing with aggressive types of illnesses.
When I say what sport puts the most stress on your body, I bet you do not think of dance, and if you do, you might already be aware of the different styles and kinds of dance you can do. There are over 100 types of dance, including folk, ballroom, and ballet, that are not always believed to be the hardest on your body internally and externally, but that idea is wrong.
Messiah University did an experiment in 2020 where soccer players switched training schedules with dancers, and many players found out that it was much harder than they thought. The idea that stood out was that many skills, like coordination and flexibility, had to be mastered in order to be one of the best.
Also in this article, you can read how the players think that by taking more dance in their everyday schedules, the ability to prevent injuries would be much higher, which could be a way many spread the challenging side of dance around.
Along with the physical strain, there are also a number of health benefits that can be seen and observed from dance and the extensive training process.
Harvard Medical School backed up the idea, saying, “Moreover, by incorporating music, dance may have benefits beyond those of exercise alone. Music stimulates the brain’s reward centers, while dance activates its sensory and motor circuits.”
This has led to their discovery of how dance improves the lives of patients with Parkinson’s disease. This highlights how severe and big the sport can be and the positive impact it can have throughout an expanding community.
While people continue to say dance isn’t a sport, it is. The mental and physical side provides proof that it can lead to an increase in skills for other sports and isn’t as easy as many expect. The effort put into it by athletes who are committed line up with the athletes who are given more credit for their sports. The sweat and time put into the activity allow for these bigger findings to be published and tested for more to appreciate.
