Ballroom Dancing online asks:- “Why isn’t Ballroom Dancing part of the Olympics”
Okay, we have just sat through virtually every sport known to man, running, jumping, swimming, rowing, cycling – even ty kwondo made an appearance, which has to be is the worst of all martial arts, looking look like boys in a playground trying to fight, where neither wanted to hit the other one!
So – firstly “is it a sport”? The dictionary states “sport” as :- …… an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature Skill? Physical effort? Competitive? Yes, all there. In spades! (As an aside, my Wii fit categorises “dancing” as one of the highest calorie burning exercise)
Physical effort – You have to be very fit to be able to dance at a competitive level, and if anyone questions this I suggest they get up from their chair and try to jive for more than a minute or two! There is also the matter of the mental effort involved in remembering your steps and the technical aspects of doing them right as well. A good dancer’s whole body will be in excellent condition, in that all muscle groups are used – unlike, let’s say – a shot putter who will concentrate on upper body strength.
Skill – yes, most people think they can dance, the same as most people think they can swim, but we all acknowledge that Mr Phelps is in a different league to us!
Competitive – Dance is extremely competitive. Except for social dance, the whole thing is about the Competition. People travel up and down the country each week to dance in different comps – parents don’t have weekends because their children need to be in town A,B or C or they need to fit in some extra practice because Blackpool is “in two weeks”.
Obviously it is a sport.
So, why don’t they include it? Could it be because of the subjective nature of judging and picking a winner? If that’s the case, why is there diving, or gymnastics. They don’t win by being first over a line. Is it because it is still seen as “elitist” if so, I argue that cycling and rowing are more elite, a person can dance anywhere – we don’t need to go to a large velodrome in Manchester or get into a University with a good Rowing Club to enable us to practice! Speaking of bikes, I watched mountain biking, BMX, the Madison – I can’t even ride a bike, yet I enjoyed every minute of that – surely people would like watching dancing too?
Ice skating is in the winter Olympics, that’s a similar discipline. Fingers crossed, one day we will be shouting for Team GB to bring back the Gold in the Ten Dance. I can but dream……………………………..
