From the ages of six to seventeen, I was very involved in, and passionate about, ballet. I was taking up to four classes a week by the time I was in high school, and I dreamt of becoming good enough to pursue ballet professionally one day.
I respect ballet as an art and ballet dancers as athletes, and I don’t think that ballet culture is inherently negative, but in my personal experience, ballet can make you bit narcissistic and cynical. Even in ballet studios for semi-serious teenagers, the competitiveness among dancers to get the “best” parts in the performances is pretty brutal. I remember witnessing lots of unnecessary trash-talking in the dressing rooms. She’s not even that good, the dancers would say, and the dancer in question would actually be, in fact, really good!
I quit ballet when I graduated from high school. I wasn’t naturally gifted in ballet, and there was no guarantee that I would reach a professional level–even if I put in the time. Some people just aren’t cut out for it. I was also unmotivated to try: in ballet, no one is rooting for you except for yourself, maybe your parents, and your teacher if you’re lucky. Without a sense of direction or an encouraging support system, a ballet career no longer felt like a worthy pursuit.
When I came to Emory, I joined the crew team and I was met with a very different idea of competition. Seeing how well my teammates do motivates me to improve, but the nature of team sports doesn’t make me crush my own self-esteem in the process.
In team sports, you do have to focus on yourself and your own performance to some degree. u need to keep up with the others by working out, training hard, and aiming for improvement. Each person has a responsibility to contribute to their team’s success, and they are motivated to put in their best effort as to not let their team down. This involves working on your technique or improving your own skills, but ultimately, there is no “I” in team: all of you have a common goal—to win—which means that you are all doing your best and rooting for your teammates to perform well.
In ballet, you can’t exactly measure how “good” a dancer is—even if you beat the record number of consecutive pirouettes or something—so you’re constantly chasing “perfection” without knowing when you’ve reached it.
Whereas I would aimlessly attempt to reach a goal with unclear criteria in ballet, I can set specific and realistic goals for myself in rowing. Knowing what I can and cannot realistically achieve helps me to not feel inadequate in this sport. I am an average-sized 19-year-old female with no previous rowing experience whatsoever. It would be reasonable for me to align my goals with rowers who have similar characteristics and amount of experience, but those who are taller, older, male (which does affect physical strength), or have more years of experience than me will most likely have much higher goals that I can’t physically achieve.
What I respect about team sports is that everyone on the team is committed to each other. You cheer for your team when you all win, and you empathize with everyone when you don’t. Sure, people have an idea of who the “best” team member is, and it’s possible that competition can occur within the team, but I don’t believe that it is the main concern among the members. Regardless of who gets the best time, scores the final goal, or “carries the team,” the objective is for all of you to win. That’s what I appreciate the most about team sports—everyone else’s success is just as important as your own.