Are dancers Artists or Athletes?

Many people regard the word "athletics" in connection with being a ballet dancer to be somewhat unsavory. Yet, when I decided to begin dancing again after so many years removed, an "athlete in training" is exactly how I thought of myself. It was not easy, and still isn't for me. There are many days when I am so sore I feel physically ill and the last thing I want to do is go to class. So my husband has to act as my coach many times.

Before I started with the new company the only way I could get in a full week of classes with my teaching schedule was to attend class on Sundays, my only day off. I told my husband that no matter what I said on Sunday mornings he had to make me go to class. Thankfully, he kept his word. Most...ok, every Sunday I woke up only wanting to sleep in and relax on the couch, but he told me that I would regret not going to class and he pushed me to go. My husband was a soccer player so he understood the demands of an athlete in training. Without his help I don't know if I could have done it.

So I come to my point. Should those who work with dancers: the teachers, directors, choreographers, treat them as artists or athletes?

I am not a painter but I can imagine that a curator of an art gallery would never come up to an artist and yell "NO NO NO, this just isn't good enough! Go back and re paint that. You are better than this!" Which is of course a common type of dialog between a dancer and the person who is rehearsing them.

Much like a coach, I believe it is the job of the Artistic Director or Ballet Mistress to push a dancer to be their best. The days when you feel like you can't go on are of course the toughest but it is their job to be honest about your work and to push you to continue.

Myself and two other girls in my current company are working on a piece that is physically exhausting. We ran it all the way through on Friday and I think we all felt like we could die. It is times like these where the athlete side takes over. I can not get through the ballet in my current state so I am going to have to add cardio to my current work out routine. When I get the physicality of the ballet down I can work on the artistic side of it. But without the physical capabilities to do the ballet all the artistic pondering in the world won't make a difference.

Of course dancers are artists. We tell a story and express ourselves through the ballets we do, which is an art. Yet, we demand our bodies to do these exceptional things that can only be categorized as athletic. So we are a little of both.

I think it is the best of both worlds. I love the physical side of ballet and I love to express myself. We are artistic athletes. We go through so many of the same struggles athletes do but at the end of the day we have an artistic outlet that no other athlete has. Plus, when we work really hard we get flowers!

 

A beautiful bouquet given to me by a student and her mom

Thank you ladies!