Background of the study(draft) for Reswrt

A.      Background of the study

Nowadays, many new forms of sports are being introduced all over the world. Some of these sports may be related to dancing, especially to ballet, such as figure skating and gymnastics. Sports is all forms of competitive physical activity which through casual or organised participation aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and provide entertainment to participants and to the audience as well. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport)

Dancing also requires strength, agility, endurance, skills, coordination, and dedication as much as sports require it.  These are the things that are common to dancers and athletes to be able to become a professional one. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, dance is the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself.

Some sports have the same concept with dance; examples are Figure Skating and Gymnastics. These two competitive sports have the same idea and concept with Ballet, from the flexibility of body that is needed, the discipline an individual should have in taking these things, and the trainings and maybe the routines that they’re conducting. The only difference is that gymnasts and skaters compete for a prize while a ballerina doesn’t, they just perform to be able to express their emotions and as well as to entertain people with their moves. But there are now dances that were considered as a competitive sport.

During the 19^th century, a new sport has been introduced worldwide. It’s not just a sport itself but it is a combination of dance and sport. This is known as dancesport, or in other words, a competitive ballroom dancing. This sport has its first unofficial championship in the year 1909. And the first formation team was presented in the year 1932 by Olive Ripman at the Astoria, Ballroom, London. Dancesport was first broadcast on TV on the year 1960. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancesport)

Ballroom has been considered as a sport during the 19^th century, therefore Ballet can be considered as one also. For some, ballet is just an art and can never be considered as a sport, because for them ballerinas don’t compete with each other, but their goal is to entertain the people and audience Well for some instance, ballet has common things with that of skating and gymnastics that can be a basis to consider ballet as a sport.

Instead of dealing with comparing what sport and dance is individually, this study will focus on factors that will help ballet to be considered as a competitive sport.