Argumentative Essay -Dance Is a Sport

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The study done regarding aerobic capacity uncovered that professional dancers have lower demands on the cardiovascular system than non-professional dancers. This is perhaps due to the fact that years of intense training result in physical body adaptations. The muscular power and endurance test concluded that ballet dancers demonstrate higher vertical jumps than the average population and are able to withstand much longer hours of muscle demand. The muscular strength experiment portrayed that while dancers demonstrate greater strength in their hips than other populations, they are generally wary of strength training due to the aesthetic demands of ballet. This parallels into the anthropometry section because to meet the aesthetic requirements of ballet, dancers frequently keep their caloric intake very low possibly predisposing them to bone density problems and injuries. (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research) Ultimately, this study found that classical ballet could be compared with other high-intensity interval training like athletes in sports. However, unlike traditionally accepted sports, dancing presents a huge challenge that is often considered the most dangerous aspect of all- the aesthetic component.

Unlike with other sports or professions, ballet places a large emphasis on physical appearance. The pressures placed on dancers can result in severe psychological downturns. Young ballet dancers who aspire to be like the older, thin professional ballerinas believe that in order to get a job in a company that they must also have this physique. Ballet dancers are required to wear skin-tight clothes and dance in front of large mirrors for hours at a time. This atmosphere causes a dancer to be acutely aware of what her body looks like. Dancers are constantly looking at themselves and their bodies and comparing themselves to the other dancers in the room. The desire to be not only a better dancer than the others but also to be thinner is extremely apparent in competitive ballet. Victoria Furguson, a 22 year old ballerina, tells her struggle of developing bulimia at age 15 in an interview with BBC News: "Every day you are looking at your friends in tights and leotards which isn't normal and the whole purpose of dance is to be self-critical and constantly pushing yourself, and you strive to be better. It was all self-imposed." She states that “there is an unspoken competitiveness between dancers.” (BBC News) This layer of health hazardous, both physical and mental, competition is not present in other traditionally accepted sports. Therefore, dancers are faced with much more challenge than just that of physical demand.

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American Heritage Dictionary

USA Today- football player article

Arts Alive school CA

Shaw Bronner dance safety study

Gatorade Sports Science Institute

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-22985310