Olympics?

[Guest KaitlynS]

I wasn't happy with my original post. What I meant about ballet being "just an art" was the point of view from many non-dancers, not my own. I believe it's more than that. Some people just don't get it. They make fun of dancers. I love ballet(it's my life!), and I can't stand it when people do this. So when I said dancers should get to participate in the Olympics, I didn't want to start a debate between sports players and dancers. I simply wanted to express my idea about the option of the Olympics being open to dancers who want to compete for their country. I wouldn't want to compete ( I'm content with performing and proving myself without a medal), but I have many friends who are dancers and would want to. I wanted to see if any one else would too. Thanks!

 

~*~Kaitlyn~*~

Edited July 24, 2003 by KaitlynS

[Victoria Leigh]

JUST an art? Excuse me??? Sorry, Kaitlin, but most of us here feel that ballet is an ART, not JUST a sport! Or not even a sport. Which is why it is not in Olympics. And why it does not belong in the Olympics. It's bad enough that we have all these competitions all over the place that put ballet almost into that category!

[Guest dancinbabie514]

I agree! Ballet doesn't belong in the olympics. It is a performing art. Olympics is more of an athletic competition and ballet is more of expressing the love of dance in movement. It is a form of artistic expression! Ballet just wouldn't seem right in the olympics!!! Olympics is for sports.....a stage is for dancers!

[Dolphingirl]

I enjoy dancing because I can perform for people, and for my own joy. I don't need to perform for prizes.

[Victoria Leigh]

[balletstar811]

These new smileys are really fun, aren't they?!

[Redstorm]

I know this is a teen forum but thought I might add something my almost 12 year old said regarding this topic...My dd was a national level ice skater by the age of 10. She hated it. She quit completely by 11 and has never looked back. I heard her explain to a friend once why she quit..."in ice skating you are judged all the time and the whole goal of skating is winning and getting on the podium. When I dance, I do it for me and for whoever is watching. Just for their enjoyment. I don't have to worry about anything. I just feel the music and dance. I am there to perform and not win medals."

In my opinion, that is why dance should not be an Olympic event. It would take the joy out of dancing for these young kids. Our young children are under enough pressure, adding competitions at that level into the mix would be overwhelming. (and I know from experience!)

[Guest ballet_barbie72]

I think that the Olympics is all about winning, and that most other sports are like that too. As everyone has said, dancing and performing isn't about winning, it's about making yourself and others happy, and feeling good about what your doing. Well that's my opinion anyway.

Luv Erin xooxoxo

[Guest Hilarie]

Okay, I feel the need to respond to this thread. Everyone here seems to think that sports are only about judging and winning and prizes. Not true.

 

I was a competitive gymnast for ten years of my life. Did I win every meet? Did I ever have a chance of making it to the Olympics? No. By your logic, i.e. that sports are "all about" winning and being THE best, I should have thrown in the towel. But I (and I speak for my teammates here as well) did gymnastics because I loved to. Nobody endures the long hours and the pain - a gymnast's hands get more ripped-up and painful than a dancer's feet will ever be and there is no such thing as padding or wraps to make it easier - if they hate the sport; it's just not worth it no matter how good you are. You have to want to be there, want to improve, to be the best athlete you can be.

 

Which brings me to my second point. Sports are not all about competing against others and winning. Sports are about working hard and becoming the best gymnast (diver, soccer player, bobsledder, yes even football player) that you are capable of being. They are NOT about winning first place at every competition. If you're in a sport and that's what you're being told, your coach ought to be fired. You have no control over what your competitors do or what score they get. The only thing that you have control over is yourself and your performance. Goals for competition should never come in the form of "I will win first place all-around at the state meet this year". If everyone else falls five times and you only fall two times, you've won the state meet, but you haven't really achieved a thing. On the other hand, if you come in 18th but did all of your routines the best you ever have, then you've achieved something.

 

At my gym, we were taught not to even look at our scores at meets, because that's not what it's about. If you get a nice shiny medal at the end that's great, but it's not the be-all, end-all of gymnastics. I won one big meet in my entire career. I didn't feel that I had performed well, though, and as a result there was no real joy in winning; I can think of twenty other meets that I came out of feeling better about my performance even when I had no medals or anything to show for it.

 

A previous post reads in part, "I enjoy dancing because I can perform for people, and for my own joy". Well, that's why I loved gymnastics. One of the situations that is considered to be the most stressful in competition is when it's perfectly quiet and you're the only person competing. That was what I thrived on. All eyes were on me, and I loved showing these people what I could do.

 

Bottom line is, sports aren't nearly the devil you're making them out to be. So you prefer dance - millions of other people wouldn't touch ballet with a ten-foot pole (barre?). And a lot of the comments you make about sports can be turned right back around on ballet. The "pressure" of competitions? How about the pressure of how you must go to the correct ballet school, attend the best summer intensives, dance the correct roles, and have the perfect body and feet to ever have a prayer of being a professional dancer, something so many young dancers want to be? Ever auditioned for something? Congratulations, you've just competed against other dancers, and your "prize" is a spot in the show, class, company, whatever.

 

Just my two cents. I expect I'll be heartily refuted momentarily.

[Victoria Leigh]

Not refuting, Hilarie, and I understand your point. However, I will still maintain that sport and art are not the same thing, and ballet is not a sport. It does not make one thing better, or superior to the other, they are simply very different things. The original post was about ballet being in the Olympics, and to that I say most definitely not!

 

PS - This topic is on the YD board, therefore posts by parents and adults without permission are highly frowned upon here. I believe there is a similar topic on the Ballet Moms and Dads forum, and Adult Students are most welcome to discuss it on their forum as well!

[Guest Terin]

I'm not trying to be controversial, but a lot of the posts have mentioned performing for themselves or performing for the audience and not for medals. Isn't it fair to guess that some professional athletes do practice sports for either themselves or their audience (the fans)?

Still, I agree that ballet isn't a sport and should not be in the Olympics. The Olympics is a competition, and ballet is an original and expressive art. How would they even find a good method for judging?