Dance Evolving

Like any other sport, dance is demanding. Dance requires an immense amount of physical exertion, so dancers need to train their bodies to have extensive endurance and strength. Here's the catch though: dancers have to make it all look effortless. 

A lot of people will say "dance looks easy." And that's exactly the point. It's our job to make it look easy. The reality is the exact opposite. Football players can grunt, soccer players can yell, volleyball players can frown. All of those sports are incredibly difficult - it's true. Most of them are harder than dance. But dance is still difficult. Dancers are expected to smile through the pain, to make each movement look effortless, to hide all of the "ugly" and only present the pretty. 

With that being said, the expectation for dancers' body image is quite different than the average athlete. Historically, dancers are supposed to be "skinny" - have minimal muscle, lean, long proportions and not eat very much. These body expectations aren't realistic for what we put our bodies through. In recent years I've seen great improvement in the dance world in regard to body expectations. Displays of strength are now embraced. Dancers are allowed to have muscle, many dance teams train in weight rooms and run laps. It's amazing to see dance teams on social media teaching their dancers how to properly fuel their bodies properly and train like an athlete. 

I love the direction I see collegiate dance teams are going - creating strong dancers that train and compete like athletes. I hope we can continue to see this growth in the sport for years to come.