RCS Dancer Defends Her Sport
Dance has existed for thousands of years. What once started as an expression of culture and religion and a way of passing down history from generation to generation, has grown into a world of fierce athleticism and competition. Despite the true athleticism of dance, many still believe it is not worthy of being a sport.
The artistry of dance often overshadows its physicality. The musicality of dance as it relates to emotion and storytelling is some- times considered too beautiful to be a sport. However, the storytelling of dance is achieved through vigorous athletic movements rather than vocal expression. Some argue that to call dance a sport is to strip it of its natural artistry. But regardless of its beauty, dance is a physical pursuit of perfection and achievement just like other sports.
Is there not a beauty and artistry to sports like football? When the quarterback finds his open wide receiver and throws the ball 50 yards downfield toward the end zone, do we not hold our breath admiring the spiral of the ball and the accuracy of the throw? There seems to be a double standard where the beauty in sports relates to strength, and the power and precision behind the beauty of dance are viewed as emotional.
Similar to other sports, physical movement and emotion are the defining elements of dance. When an audience associates dance with emotion, it often draws away from its athleticism and integrity as a sport. However, this is an unfair consideration because sports are filled with emotion. Society has mistakingly led us to believe that emotion is associated with weakness, not strength.
It is important to pressure organizations to elevate the classification of dance to its rightful place. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) represents upwards of 1,000 schools and 500,000 athletes. The NCAA includes 26 sports ranging from fencing to softball, but it does not include dance. Dancers who attend these schools work out six days a week and have access to fewer facilities than NCAA teams. However, they are still expected to positively reflect the school and win competitions. If the NCAA were to recognize dance as a sport, it would offer dancers more opportunities and more respect from spectators and fellow athletes. With its increased profile, a well-funded dance program could generate greater school spirit and revenue.
The inequality of dance also exists on a local level at independent schools like Riverdale Country School. At Riverdale, the athletic department does not recognize dance as a sport. Students that dance for 50 minutes a day and four days a week still have to do P.E. because dance does not currently fill the P.E. requirement. High school dance programs like Riverdale are often underfunded with regard to rehearsal space and performance attire. As stated by Riverdale dance team co-captain Laila Larkin, “In many ways, in- vestment in a program goes be- yond monetary value. For instance, establishing a network with other schools’ dance programs can parallel the experience of our athletics teams, investing in the dance pro- gram in a similar way.
With a more expansive program, dance students at Riverdale will flourish with more opportunities, motivation, and connections both within our school and as members of a larger dance community.” If dance programs were given more resources, they could improve exponentially. Schools could attract stronger dancers who could attend competitions and win more awards. These achievements would bring positive attention to the school and could also attract funding and sponsors.
Underfunding dance is a short-sighted attitude that limits both dancers and the school. Dancers at Riverdale are provided with a small studio that limits movement, im- pacts safety, restricts the class size, and affects the future growth of Riverdale’s dance program.
As Riverdale’s middle and up- per school dance program coordinator, Ms. Spagnuolo is constantly searching for opportunities to further fund the dance program. When asked about why she feels dance is key to a high school program, Ms. Spagnuolo responded “Riverdale is so fortunate to have a robust Dance Program in the Middle and Upper Schools. Dance is an artistic, academic, and athletic discipline, so it feels imperative to study dance in school.”
Although this is only her second year at Riverdale, Spagnuolo has already enacted noteworthy changes to the dance program at Riverdale. This includes the expansion of more dance classes, including adding the dance company mini-course, replacing the previous floor with a sprung marley floor, and providing dancers with more performance opportunities such as the March dance company concert.
There is an unconscious bias against dance programs as they are seen as more artistic than athletic. Hopefully, in time, Riverdale can assess how to reallocate its resources towards a larger dance studio and dance uniforms. Ms. Spagnuolo is taking meaningful steps toward developing Riverdale’s dance program, but she can only enact so much change without the proper support and resources of the Riverdale community.
