Dance spirit magazine recently posted a question on Facebook that said, “Do you think dance should be added to the Olympics as a sport? A total of 55 people said yes while only 25 people said no. While almost everyone believes dancers are athletics because of how fit most dancers are, I believe that dance is not a sport but a fine art.

My first reason to my argument is that dance is a way for people to express emotions or tell a story using only your body. Martha Graham once said, “The body is your instrument in dance.” This metaphor explains the relationship a dancer and his/her body to a musician and his/her musical instrument. It is also a metaphor referring to an artist and his/her paint brush. Just like the above mentioned artists dancers use their body instead a paint brush or a musical instrument.

My other argument to dance being a fine art is that winning a competition is based on the judges’ opinions. In a sports game there is no opinion on who wins. It’s a fact depending on whichever team/person gets the better score weather it’s making a basket, getting the ball into the net, or crossing the finish line first. No one questions weather that person scored that point or not because it’s a fact at that point. In dance people win by the judges’ opinions. There’s no solid proof so everyone has to believe the judges’ opinions. This reason is completely opposite from sports. For example, one contestant might point her feet and stretch her legs all the way, but she showed no emotion and had a blank face the whole two minutes she was on stage. The next contestant show great emotion and artistry, but lacks basic technique like pointing her feet and stretching her legs all the way. The first judge says, “I think the first contestant should win because she had better technique.” The second judge then says, “I believe the second contestant put more emotion behind her dance and therefore she should win.” The third judge says, “Although the first dancer was technically better, I believe emotion and artistry are more important. I, therefore, believe that the second dancer should win.” Dance has no set criteria unlike sports making it harder to decide who wins.

I would like you to take my side of the argument into consideration. I firmly that well dance requires almost more physical ability than most sports; dance is not a sport but a fine art. Dance was made to express emotions through your body and winning a dance competition is based on opinion.