Dancer's Athletic Side

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Albert Einstein once said “Dancers are the athletes of God.” Dancers deserve to have the title of athlete, to start, take a look at the definition of an athlete “a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength.” While dancing requires great artistry, artistry is just one aspect of dance, because it clearly has an athletic side as well. Dancer’s athletic side is not seen by many because of the reality of what people see on stage, but is what is seen on stage all of it? The amount of passion and dedication dancers have leads to countless hours at the studio every week. With the many genres of dance to choose from, each involves athleticism one way or another. The many different options make it easier for a dancer to branch out and explore new ways of fulfilling their dreams. Dancers need to stop being underestimated by everyone, they need everyone to see them as athletes and artists. The world only sees a small fraction of a dancer’s life. While a performance on a stage may look flawless, the amount of work put into making it look like that is completely underappreciated. A pretty, perfect ballerina with a pink tutu, twirling with her arms above her head; ladylike hair with a Barbie-like face—these are the stereotypical images of dancers that come to most people’s minds. The real image is a sweaty dancer with ripped shoes, broken toes, blood coming out of her tights, and that’s really what dance is. People don’t see this, because dancers are so highly trained to mask this intensity, to make everything appear absolutely effortless. (Berkey) The intense level of covering up what really goes on behind the scenes makes dance appears as an activity that does not require the amount o... ... middle of paper ... ...re appreciation because dancers are athletes, according to the definition of athlete. Works Cited "Barre Work in Ballet." Answers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014. . Bergeron, Victoria, and Sara Luzuriaga. "Artist or Athlete? The Reality of Dance at Andover." . N.p., 21 Feb. 2014. Web. 19 May 2014. . Bryant, Janine. "Dancers as Athletes." The Dance Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014. . "Dancers as Athletes." . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014. . "Dictionary.com - The world's favorite online English dictionary!." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014. .

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