— from an interview from a recent issue of Dance Notes.
 
Ballroom Dancing… ART or SPORT?

Many dancers feel that what they do is a work of art, while others feel they are truly sportsmen. Still others think the combination of these two worlds, art and sport, make the finished product perfection. With the imminent inclusion of dancesport in the Olympics, we posed the question, "Ballroom Dancing… Art or Sport?" to amateur and professional competitors and judges. We found their views to be most interesting.

Eddie Ares Georgia - Sport, because of the physical conditioning that goes behind it. It takes a lot of energy, stamina, hard work and mental concentration, which is equal to any athletic sport.

Katusha Demidova New York - I always view it as a sport because of the training and time we put into it. It has an artistic side, but definitely a sport. In Russia it's a sport. They would say, "You are a sportsman - treat it like that."

Michael Mead California - It's an athletic endeavor but in the competition setting it's more of an art. It relies on a subjective opinion rather than objective measure like running a foot race. The first one over the line is the winner. There's no disputing that. With dancesport it's based on someone's opinion of whether they liked one particular interpretation opposed to someone else's interpretation.

Shalene Archer Tennessee - I believe it's an art first. There's definitely sport involved especially in how it's progressed in the last twenty years. It's become much more of a sport, much more demanding of the body. But what separates us from the other sports is movement to music. It has to come more from the heart than who crosses the finish line first.

Ben Ermis Tennessee - I think that maybe there is a better balance of art and sport in what we do than anything else. I'm not a pure die hard that thinks it belongs in the Olympics and it's pure sport. I'm happy if recognizing dancing as a sport will help it get a broader appeal to the masses. I still think it's more art than sport. I don't think the ballet dancers have the right to argue that their dancing is a sport.

Maja Servé California - I consider it a sport. In 1966, DanceSport, (as it's called in Denmark where I am from originally), was admitted to the Sports Association of Denmark. So it's been a sport all my life. It was always in the sport section of the newspapers and on television in Denmark.

John Swick Oklahoma - I consider it an art, but I think in a lot of ways we need to address it as a sport to get the government to pay proper attention. In America we put billions of dollars every year into sports but continue to cut arts programs. Dancing is an art because all art is communication. You have to tell me a story. Otherwise why are you doing it and why would we want to come watch you do it, unless we get a message from you? We all go to theatre and events to live vicariously through whoever is living that moment. And it must be something we're interested in or we didn't do or wished we had done. There are a lot of arts that aren't necessarily as physically endurance and strength oriented, but that doesn't mean an art can't be a sport or a sport can't be an art. Your performance has the responsibility to make us happy. The easiest way to make us happy is for you to be happy because then we live your joy. And it becomes our joy, then we're connected and that's art. There is an art to being a magnificent sportsman.

Corky Ballas Texas and England - I consider ballroom dancing to be an art. The reason is that in dancing we have three approaches. We have a showy approach, which is more concerned with facial gesturing. Then there is a sport approach, which is more concerned with the athleticism of it, the strength, the power, the line of it. And the artistic approach, which is more concerned with the actual movement, the stretch, the sensing, feeling the dynamic of the movement. So it depends on what approach the person takes. The borderline problem is when you have to do eight rounds in one day -- you have to be physically fit. Why we get confused is the ballet dancers, like Baryshnikov, are extremely fit and healthy. What is the difference? He practices nine or ten hours a day. So why is what they do art and what we do not?

Nadia Eftedal California - I consider ballroom dancing an art with sportsman like qualities. Of course we share many of the same physical training regiments like other competitive sports; however, I believe that ultimately, those that attain the highest championship levels are beyond the physicality of dance and seek more artistic developments such as musicality, expression and creating a performance that builds a rapport with the audience.

Pierre Dulaine New York - I respect and commend people for trying to get ballroom dancing into the Olympics, but I really don't think dancing is a sport. I think it's social. People started learning dancing as a hobby. I think it's boring to watch after a while. There's no degree of difficulty, like in diving or skating (how many revolutions, twists, turns, jumps, etc.). Latin dancers are what they always show, and Latin dancing now is all about speed. If you have no speed then you're not going to be seen. It's about how fast you can go, and to make it easier for the competitors they're slowing all the music down. It is ballroom dancing that we teach. I don't teach dancesport. I don't think it [the Olympics] will be good for the industry. I've always been an outsider and I'm sure many people are disagreeing with me as I speak. I stand by what I believe is right.

Jim Clark Nevada - Both. Its athleticism and its competitiveness definitely make it a sport. In the theatre it can be more like an art. This sport is very unique. You compete with six to twelve other couples on the floor at the same time. So your ability to be successful not only depends on how good a dancer you are but also your ability to manage yourself on the dance floor without interfering with other people or having them interfere with you. It's very unique to dancesport.

Peggy Kobusch Missouri - It demands both. If it weren't both it would lose a great deal of its total, its everything.

Marika Kovacs Pennsylvania - Both, because you need physical endurance in order to keep up with it and also you have to have some kind of agility. But the expression part and the emotional part is artistic. In sports like tennis you don't have to express your emotions. You just have to be strong.

Lea Turner Arizona - Both. It combines the best of the art of dancing with the competition aspect of the sport. I think it's the best of both worlds because it allows the individual dancer to be expressive as they push themselves to further levels of excellence amongst their peers.

Leah Hughes Texas - Being a competitive collegiate athlete I believe it is both. You have to be in shape. It's physically taxing and some of the same things I learned in basketball about how my body moves through space are the same things I learn in dancing. But it's also an art form because you have to present and represent what the music is saying.

Eugene Katsevman New York - It is art and sport mixed together. It's a sport because we want to win, but it's artistic because it's individual and not about who jumps higher or swims faster. It's about artistic expression that helps you to win.

Jerry Freiberg Pennsylvania - I still think of dancing as fundamentally recreational. Something you go out and do at night and have fun when you're not competing against anyone. If you're asking if dancesport is an art or sport I think it's primarily a sport with some overtones of art to it. You are in there to try and do better than the other dancers and you can do so in part with artistic methods.