From pirouettes, to fan kicks, dance is very athletic like a sport but beautiful to watch like a form of art. But is dance a sport or just an art form? This is a question that causes some very heated arguments. To settle this, let’s look at what a sport and art is.

What is a sport?

According to dicitionary.com, a sport is “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc”. Sports help people with health, mental health, stress, and academic performance. 

What is art?

According to britanica.com “a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination”. Some great examples of art are the Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, Girl With a Pearl Earring, and many more. Music, sculptures, pottery and even sketches can also be classified as art. Some other great examples of famous artists are Michelangelo (sculptor and painter), Leonardo da Vinci (artist) and even modern day artists like Taylor Swift (singer and song-writer). Art can help with creativity, confidence and even stress relief.

So where does dance fit into all of this?

Well, dance requires a lot of strength, and skill. There are also competitions for dance and tricks in dance that are dangerous as they are challenging. Plus, dance requires you to do push ups, sit ups and more. However, dance can create a story by the dancer using different expressions and the choreography can “paint” a picture for the character and the setting of the story. So, dance should be classified as both a sport and an art.

What TMS students think

Here is what students of TMS think.

Question: Is dance a sport?

“Yes” ( Matea Vigil, Alice Krebbs, Lyla Durrell, Iker Erkin, Emma Moya, Elsa Reinholz, Gavin Sandland, Mr. Guzman and Grace Lin)

“No” ( Lenny Wuerfler, Mia Rodriguez, and Davian Gonzalez)

Question: Why yes?

Matea Vigil:  “Because they have competitions, you have to work together and they are awards”

Alice Krebbs: “You sweat and it gets your blood pumping”

Lyla Durrell: “You have competitions and you have to work hard”

Iker Erkin: “There’s a lot of movement”

Emma Moya: “It’s exercise and there’s a lot of movement”

Elsa Reinholz: “It’s a physical activity with an objective like any other sport”

Gavin Sandland: “There’s a lot of movement”

Grace Lin: “A type of exercise, you burn calories and it keeps you moving”

Mr. Guzman: “ It gets your blood pumping and there are competitions for dance”

Question: Why no?

Lenny Wuerfler: “Because it’s not.”

Mia Rodriguez: “It’s not an Olympic sport and there’s no running in dance”

Davian Gonzalez: “There’s no score and there’s no defense in dance”

What do you think? Is dancing a sport, art or both? Leave a comment below. Here’s a poll to check out and to see what you think dance is 

Sources:

Source 1

Source 2