Dance is a sport, there’s honestly no denying it. You push your body to the max and twist it in ways it should not twist. Just take first position in ballet, you stand with your legs, knees and feet turned out when they are all supposed to be parallel. Or relevé, you stand on the balls of your feet when your feet are supposed to be flat to the ground. I’m not saying you shouldn’t dance, you should. I think it’s one of the best things you can do for your body. It gets you up, moving and exercising, just like other sports, which is healthy for everyone. But you can’t ignore that it takes a physical toll on the body, just like other sports. A good place to start delving into this is to take a look at various styles of dance. I will only talk about the ones I have participated in.
Pointe
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Pointe, also called Toe, is a style of dance done on the tips of your toes and balls of your feet. Pointe shoes are made with silk and satin fabric for both the shoe and the ribbon. The tip of the shoe, where the toes would go, has a small, hard wooden toe box to support the dancer as they go on their toes to do turns, waltz steps and moves that in ballet would be done on the balls of the dancer’s feet. A toe pad of either gel, lamb’s wool or a combination of the two is worn around the toes to protect the dancer’s toes from the toe box.
Ballet
Photo by Ivandrei Pretorius from Pexels.com
Ballet is pointe but on the balls of your feet, or rather pointe is ballet on the tips of your toes. Either way, the two are connected as you can’t do pointe without first doing ballet. Ballet shoes are made with a canvas fabric and are very soft. This allows for easy, gliding movements and various turns across the dance floor. The style also allows for and shows off pointed feet and relevé (going onto the balls of your feet). It makes it for quick, fluid, graceful movements.
Jazz
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Jazz is closely related to ballet but has key differences. For example, in ballet when you turn, you turn with your legs, knees and feet turned out. In jazz, your turn with your legs, knees and feet parallel. Jazz is performed in either a jazz boot, an ankle height black or tan leather bootie that is flat to the ground with a slight heel, or jazz heels, black or tan heels similar to character shoes. Most of the moves are done with flat feet, but there are more leaps and rolls than in ballet.
Contemporary
Photo by Gabriel Santos
Another form similar to ballet, but again with key differences. Many of the movements in contemporary dancing are similar to those in ballet. The turns are done with legs, knees and feet turned out and the movements seem to glide across the floor. In this style of dance, it is the way each move is performed that makes it different from ballet. The dancer may turn on a flat foot instead of on the balls of their feet or a move may seem completely out of the blue. It is typically performed barefoot, but it can be performed in ballet and jazz shoes as well.
Hip Hop
Photo by Aman Jakhar
Last but not least there is hip hop. This style is the least like ballet in all respects. Rather than spin on the balls of your feet, you spin on your heels. The shoe is usually sneakers or boots and while there is a specific hip hop dance that has a split sole, it’s not usually required. The movements are fast paced and there’s a lot of jumping, stomping and pounding feet, so the sneakers and boots provide the necessary support to withstand it. Sneakers and boots also allow for quick movements and give a bounce in each step.
There are so many more styles of dance than discussed in this one article, these are just the ones I’ve practiced. Dancing is fun, energetic and helps to release energy, but it’s not easy. It’s like any other sport, pushing your body to its limits. Sure, what dancers do is different from what a football player does, but both run, jump, stomp, need proper attire, compete and so much more. It’s simply the way they do it that’s different.