Kayli Clark

Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020

Petition for Dance in the Olympics

The Olympic Games are a worldwide phenomenon; they are not only exciting, but

unifying, as well. The Games bring different nations together for a common purpose:

entertainment and healthy competition. The Olympics are strictly the best of the best throughout

the whole world, which is why they are the epitome of success for any athlete. Dance deserves a

spot in the Olympic Games because it is as demanding on the body and difficult in skill

requirement as the currently included sports; inclusion would provide dance athletes the

legitimacy they are worthy of, by granting them the opportunity to make it to the competition

that represents the ultimate success for any athlete.

In 2015, a panel of qualified judges decided on a list of categories with which to rate a

sport’s level of difficulty. The expert panel included Doctor Peter Davis, Ph.D. in biochemistry.

Also on the team was Bruce Watkins, once the Associate Professor of Sport Management at the

University of Michigan with a Ph.D. in developmental psychology, who is currently the “director

of the Coaching and Sport Sciences Division at the United States Olympic Committee and

oversees one of the world's premier sport science departments” (ESPN). These two, along with

other “sports scientists from the United States Olympic Committee,” decided on endurance,

strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination, and analytical

aptitude as the categories to quantify the difficulty level of a sport (ESPN). Every Olympic sport

does not completely embody each category; certain criteria pertain more heavily to certain

sports. For example, the 100 meter hurdles require both intense speed and agility, but not
Kayli Clark
Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020
endurance, whereas Nordic skiing requires high endurance but relatively less speed and agility.

To become an Olympic sport, a number of the categories will be substantially present.

Dance requires endurance just like most Olympic team sports do. Endurance is defined as

“the ability of an athlete to withstand external physical pressures over time, or to maintain

competitive and training focus under pressure” (“Endurance”). The majority of competition

dance routines will take up around two minutes and twenty seconds. In track and field - an

Olympic Sport - a quality 800 meter (half mile) time for a high school girl would be two minutes

and twenty seconds. The 800 meter race is considered a mid-distance event, and since one has to

train at distances longer than what they will actually race, an 800 meter runner requires a decent

amount of endurance training. Also, the main muscles used in this type of running are the glutes,

quads, hip flexors, hamstrings, calves, and core region, all of which dancers also utilize intensely.

Therefore, if exerting the energy and exercising these muscles to run for two minutes and twenty

seconds takes endurance, then it is fair to conclude that exerting the energy and working the

same muscles to dance for an equal amount of time requires it as well. Moreover, in an early

2000s study, scientists set out to “compare dancers’ and team sports athletes’ resistance to

fatigue” (Liederbach). The participants had to repeatedly drop off of an elevated platform and

land only on one foot. The scientists hypothesized that it would take the dancers’ landing form

more reps to break down and that they would have “different biomechanical responses...once

fatigue has been achieved” than the team sports athletes (Liederbach). The scientists noted how

many reps it took each group’s landing form to break down. It did take the dancers longer to

fatigue, but the fatigue physically surfaced in much the same way as the team athletes’ did. Since

it took longer for the dancers’ form and body alignment to deteriorate, it displays their superior
Kayli Clark
Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020
endurance in at least certain areas of the body. This study demonstrated dancers can withstand

the same “external physical pressure” as team athletes - most every common team sport is in the

Olympics - for a longer period of time. Thus, from the endurance standpoint, dancers are worthy

of the Olympic Games.

By examining jumps, it can be concluded dancers must use power like other Olympic

sports. According to John Hopkins Medicine, dancers are exposed to “much more intense

jumping from an earlier age than other sports,” which is most likely why they are known to be at

lower risk for ACL injuries (Deu). A jump is a prime example of the use of power - as one has to

force power into the ground in order to get off of it. A study by the University of Michigan

compared the vertical jumps of basketball players and dancers. They found the airtime for the

basketball player was 2.61, and barely beating that time, the dancer’s was 2.74 (Dairy). On the

sports rating scale for difficulty, basketball is rated on the upper end of the spectrum in the

“power” category, partly due to all the jumping. Dancers participate in a wide range of jumps and

leaps, also forcing power into the ground. In the study, it was demonstrated that a dancer can

jump comparably as well as a basketball player. If dancers can be as good at jumping, they are

therefore as skilled at using power, as basketball players. Consequently, lack of power is not a

sufficient excuse for why dance could not be in the Olympics.

Dance relies on speed, agility, and flexibility, all aspects which designate an official

Olympic Sport. A study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in

Sports aimed to determine what effect, if any, dance training has on certain physical aspects of

cross-country skiers. The skiers completed tests indicative of physical fitness before they went

through dance training. The cross-country skiers, both male and female, were trained in dance
Kayli Clark
Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020
biweekly for the duration of six hours per session. They were exposed to a variety of styles

including “ballet, modern dance, jazz dance, and character dance;” none of the skiers had prior

experience (Alricsson). The subjects were measured using the same test from the beginning

throughout the study for short-term and long-term effects (at 3 months and 8 months). By

comparing the before and after test results, the scientists found that dance training improved joint

mobility, muscle flexibility, speed, and agility in the cross-country skiers; the control group’s

results either didn’t improve or worsened. The fact that dance training improved speed, agility,

and flexibility in athletes from an Olympic sport which is known to “[place] high demands on

both the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems,” is evidence that dance is more straining in

at least three categories used to rate sport difficulty (Alricsson). Therefore, dancers have the

speed, agility, and flexibility comparable to Olympic sports athletes, and should be provided the

same opportunity (as them) to showcase it.

Dance requires a heart rate and exertion level comparable to the current Olympic Sports.

According to The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the average heart rate reached

in ballet classes and rehearsals is 161-186 beats per minute (Rice). In Frontiers in Psychology, a

peer-reviewed source, a study reports the average heart rate of a female basketball player during

games to be 162-173 beats per minute (Roman); the majority of dancers are female, so it is most

fitting to compare them to female basketball players. Comparing the averages, the dancer’s

average during practice is comparable to, and even slightly higher than, the basketball player’s

average during games. A dancer’s performance would be the equivalent to a basketball player’s

game; both would automatically be situations that heighten heart rate because there is an

audience and it’s considered more important than a practice. Even with this increased heart rate
Kayli Clark
Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020
in a basketball player’s game, the range is similar to a dancer’s normal practice, demonstrating

the large amount of effort dancers exert even in practice. Furthermore, in the peer-reviewed

journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists, it was noted that dance necessitates both the

aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, as do Olympic sports such as soccer, tennis, and basketball.

This reiterates that dance requires analogous bodily effort to sports given Olympic status and

opportunity.

Dance does not represent every category the sports scientists listed, but neither does

every other Olympic sport. There is no hand-eye coordination in dance, but coordination is

necessary. Dance requires gross motor coordination instead, which is “using the large muscles in

the torso, arms and legs to complete whole-body movements” (The Understood Team). Like

dance, the Olympic sports swimming, track and field, rowing, gymnastics, diving, cycling, figure

skating, and the equestrian categories do not heavily require hand-eye coordination. Surfing and

skateboarding, two more sports that require coordination but not of the hand-eye type, will make

their Olympic debut this upcoming season; they are not promised a permanent spot, but are

testing (out) the waters (OlympicTalk). If officials are worried dance will not work well in the

Games, they could try dance in the same way they are trying surfing and skateboarding, without

fully committing.

Although some argue dance is judged too subjectively to be in the Olympics, there is

evidence that it could succeed in the Games. Judging would be based on categories that apply to

every type of dance, such as technique and creativity; each performance would be rated in every

category to make a total combined score. This mirrors how the judging system operates on

NBC’s World of Dance, which sees a diverse range of dance styles and cultures, yet functions
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Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020
adequately. Judging in this manner eases the subjectivity because each dance is assessed on

exactly the same aspects, however those aspects are manifested in the individual styles.

Moreover, there are other performance-based sports already present in the Olympics. Figure

skating, rhythmic gymnastics, and synchronized swimming are a few examples of Olympic

sports which are choreographed performances requiring technique and a musical background.

While rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming were both added to the Games

relatively recently in the year 1984, figure skating is the oldest sport in the Winter Olympics,

with its debut in 1908. If figure skating has endured this many years in the Games without issue,

dance could survive too.

I danced competitively for nine years up through my senior year of high school. Every

time I met someone new and received the typical “what sports do you play,” I would hesitate. I

distinctly remember being rudely called out in middle school for naming dance as a sport; so I

learned early on to clarify, I dance “if you count that,” to avoid the insistent “that is not a sport”

or silent judgement. Society has progressed in my lifetime to be more accepting of many things,

including dance in general and men in the dance world. Dancers are starting to become widely

recognized as both the artists and athletes that they are, yet they are still denied the same respect

and opportunities as athletes in other sports. All things considered, there is no legitimate reason

dancers should be deprived of the opportunity for the ultimate success: competing in the

Olympic Games. Dancers are athletes just as much as competitors in the other sports are; thus, it

is unfair to hold dancers back from the same path of success.

Kayli Clark
Phillips
FYS
11/17/2020
Works Cited

Alricsson, M., et al. “The Effect of Dance Training on Joint Mobility, Muscle Flexibility, Speed
and Agility in Young Cross-Country Skiers - a Prospective Controlled Intervention
Study.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, vol. 13, no. 4, 2003, pp.
237–243. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0838.2003.00309.x.

Dairy, Gregory, et al. MVS 330 Project Main Page, 1996,

www.umich.edu/~mvs330/f99/jumpin3/main.html.

Deu, Raj, et al. “Common Dance Injuries and Prevention Tips.” Johns Hopkins Medicine,
www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/sports-injuries/common-dance
-injuries-and-prevention-tips.

“Endurance.” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 6 Nov. 2020, www.encyclopedia.com/.

Liederbach, Marijeanne, et al. “Comparison of Landing Biomechanics Between Male and

Female Dancers and Athletes, Part 2.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 42,
no. 5, 2014, pp. 1089–1095. doi:10.1177/0363546514524525.

OlympicTalk. “Breaking Provisionally Added for 2024 Olympics - OlympicTalk: NBC Sports.”
OlympicTalk | NBC Sports, 25 June 2019,
olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/06/25/breaking-added-olympics/.

Román, María Reina, et al. “Training and Competition Load Monitoring and Analysis of
Women's Amateur Basketball by Playing Position: Approach Study.” Frontiers in
Psychology, vol. 9, 2019. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6333631/.

Rice, Paige E., et al. “Physiological and Biomechanical Responses to an Acute Bout of High
Kicking in Dancers.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 32, no. 10,
2018, pp. 2954-2961. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002748.

The Understood Team. “Gross Motor Skills: What You Need to Know.” What Are Gross Motor
Skills, Understood, 22 Oct. 2020,
www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/child-learning-disabilities/moveme
nt-coordination-issues/all-about-gross-motor-skills.

www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills.