Re: where is dance headed in USA?

Date: 8 Jun 2003 16:47:38 -0700
Newsgroups: rec.arts.dance
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email-address-deleted (Tim Jowers) wrote in message news:<email-address-deleted>...
> What is the future direction of dance in the USA? Is it more of the
> same? Will any effort ever be made to teach dance more generally and
> to youth such as was done with soccer to create a very strong support
> today in the USA for the sport?
I don't think you can compare dance to soccer. I love to dance, but do
not consider it a sport. The "dancesport" mentality focuses on the
competition aspect of dance and leaves out the social dance aspect. It
also encourages a split in the dance community between social and
competitive dancers. In my experience it's easier to get new people,
especially young people, into social dancing. Less commitment, less
focus on precision. Oftentimes the good competitive dancers separate
themselves from the social scene, which is sad as then new dancers get
less inspiration and don't get the experience of dancing with these
great dancers.
P.S. I am mainly speaking to Ballroom dance here as BRD'ers are the
only ones that take the "sport" tack.
-Tegan