Dance Is a Sport (Dancesport!) and Can Be Masculine
Dance Is a Sport (Dancesport!) and Can Be Masculine
Unfortunately, dance has a tendency to get a bad wrap from the male persuasion. Many men think that it is not a manly activity and would never see it as a sport. For the men coming into our dance studio hesitant and not looking forward to entering into the ballroom world, let me explain to you how dancing can be fun, impressive, and even make you look more masculine!
1. Dance requires a great deal of strength
Just like any sport, dance requires strength. When you watch dancing with the stars or any other dancing, you may see them lifting the women. They make it look so easy. But here’s the thing, it takes strength and control to lift someone. If you think about it from a weight lifting perspective, when you are lifting your partner, you’re lifting between 100 and 200 pounds and the way you are lifting the weight is spread out, not in a concentrated form. You also are not curling your partner for two seconds. You are often times lifting her in a way that requires using muscles in your legs, core, arms, and your chest. You also are holding her for a while, and just as it is more difficult to hold a weight in place while curling, it takes a great amount of strength to hold a women for a significant amount of time in the air. When you see the excellent shape professional dancers are in, you have to understand that they are going to “the gym” every day just by lifting their partner and moving her around the floor. In addition to lifting, simply moving a person around a dance floor takes strength as well. Not only are you constantly moving, but you are using your body to move another person with you. By controlling your movements across the floor, there is a certain amount of tension in each muscle that you are using. It’s a lot of work!
2. You get to be in control
As we all know women have an innate need to control. Well, in the dance world, this is not allowed! The man is the leader. He is the one in control. If you want to do a certain dance move, it is up to you to tell her. She doesn’t get to choose, you do. You may not always get the chance to be in control in life, guys, so here is your chance! On the dance floor, you are the leader, you are the one that tells her what is coming, and you get to choose! This may be the only place you get the chance, so take it! You are the man. You are the leader.
3. Dancing looks impressive
When a guy can lift a girl and make her look beautiful, it is impressive to everyone watching! The more feminine you make the lady look, the more masculine you do. You may think the other guys watching think you look effeminate, but if you’re making the lady look good it actually does the reverse and makes them want to try it or at least impresses them. And you are no doubt impressing the women watching.
4. What other sport do you get to be close to a member of the opposite sex?
Often times when men would make fun of dancers I never understood it. They get to hold women all day while working out and staying in shape. What better way is there? To me it would seem like a win win. Not only that, but the better you are at it, the more likely a woman is to be impressed and want to keep dancing with you. If you are one of the best dancers on the floor, women will notice and be impressed. I don’t know many women who are turned off by a guy who is a good dancer and knows how to move them.
6. A skill worth attaining
Even if you would rather go to the gym, think of it this way. Doing sports, running, lifting weights are all great way to stay in shape. And some of them give you skills that you can use. But not many of those skills can be used the way dance can. You can use this skill at parties. You can use it at weddings. You can use it at home with your significant other. You can go out and dance. Having dance in your repertoire is a useful and fun skill that you will always have.
7. A great way to get closer to your significant other…or to find one!
Learning to dance with a partner is a team effort. It’s takes working together to learn how to move your partner and how to work as a team to build repertoire. It can be frustrating at times and it takes a lot of hard work, but every student I have had has always been proud of their accomplishments at the end. I have yet to have a guy say it was not worth learning. And pleasing your significant other is always a plus. If you don’t have one yet, what better way to meet people than by sharing this skill. There are usually more women than men in social dancing settings. What a unique opportunity, to meet tons of people! Even if it is just a way of meeting people and gaining a community, it is an easy way to do so.
So men, I hope this has given you a new perspective on dancing. And I hope this will make you feel better about the new activity you are venturing out into. Just remember, dancing is a sport and it can make you look and feel masculine.
Article by Bella Ballroom instructor, Tayler
