Are Ballet Dancer’s Artists or Atheletes?

As dancers we all know the blood, sweat, and tears that it takes to make it in the professional ballet world. As a professional dancer, most train five to six days a week a minimum of 4 to 6 hours of rehearsals after class, so we definitely put our bodies through a lot to make sure look amazing on stage. With this being said this poses a popular question, are dancers artists or athletes? I think Dance Consortium said it best in their article talking about dancers as athletes. Dance Consortium first defines what an athlete is and then compares how the life of a dancer fits around that definition. Dance Consortium uses the ideas of stamina used through performances, the injuries that are endured as a dancer, and the physicality that it takes to make it through the week as a professional all as an example to why dancers are not just artists, but they are athletes as well.

©David Alvarez / Miami HEAT

“Dancers are the athletes of God.” – Albert Einstein

Being involved in dance and sports both in my past, the athleticism that you face are both parallel; the only difference is that you don’t have to look pretty playing basketball.Dance is such a commitment to your body because you have to train your technique consistently and constantly remind your body the do’s and don’t’s in class, so that on stage it looks effortless. Dancers consistently fight through a lot of the strain and injuries that are also faced by football players because when you continuously train and work your body rigorously overuse and long term injuries become a problem. The New York City Ballet describes the injuries that they face as professional dancers, and just like any other athlete one major injury can really put your career on the line. Dancers are now more than ever rehabilitating themselves as athletes by going to physical therapy regularly and strengthening themselves using outlets such as Pilates or yoga. Although dancers meet some of the same demands of an athletes I think I can hardly call it a sport because it is so much more that. The heart, soul, and passion that goes behind the performance to tell a story as dancer is what takes more than athleticism, but also artistry to convey. There is no way that a ballerina can portray both the roles of Odile and Odette of Swan Lake without the passion and emotion that comes behind both the characters. Ballet is definitely not as easy as it looks, but the athletic and artistic values that requires are what makes it such a beauty to watch. Below I will leave you with Soloist Jilian Vanstone of the Canada National Ballet talking about her life as a ballet dancer and what it means to her.

As always dancers,

Keep calm dance on!

Jilian Vanstone – A Day in the life of a Ballerina