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Should Ballroom Dancing Be an Olympic Sport?
Posted by richrf • 6/07/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: dancing, olympic sports
The Olympic Committee as officially recognized Ballroom Dancing as a sport (it is now called DanceSport), and is reviewing the possibility to include DanceSport as an Olympic event.
Buoyed by the international exposure of Dancing with the Stars, the Olympic Committee which prides itself on the sanctity of sport, and its own love for money, has placed DanceSport on the same list as bowling and bridge (the card game of course).
To buttress its case, the DanceSport governing bodies site the fact that dancers are very well conditioned (obvious to anyone who has watched those curvaceous professional women on Dancing with the Stars), and that "Accidents happen. We sometimes crash into other couples".
Personally, I am for it. Why not? I can't get enough of those pros in those skimpy Latin outfits. However, I would insist on some rule banning excessive use of tan spray - as a matter of preserving the dancers' health.
What do you guys think? I am ready to Samba.
User Comments
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They've been trying to get this into the Olympics for some time now. I seem to remember them debating it like, 10 years ago.
I like the idea. I enjoy watching ballroom competitions. They are certainly very athletic, that's for sure.-
Hi Drowsey,
Are you a Ballroom Dancer? -
HA! omg no. I can barely walk without tripping over something. And I don't think they make those outfits in my size.
You know...you must have hit the button twice, cause there's 2 of these threads.
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I love to dance - though the thought of making Ballroom Dancing an Olympic sport somehow hits me in the wrong way.
The server is crazy today. It connects, then doesn't do anything - then I hit it again, and sometimes its there and sometimes not. They must be having some severe problems on the BC server - dropping connections, etc. -
yeah, I thought it was just my computer, but it's wacky (the server, I mean)
Ballroom dancing is no different than skating in some ways, I love watching skating, especially the dance competition, which is partly based on ballroom. So I say it's similar enough.
I mean we have all kinds of weird stuff, like shot putt...I know its traditional, but really, lol.
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lol. You've got a point. The problem with figure skating, is that it is all so subjective. As a result there is so many scandals. But that aside, I would pay for front-row seats for the Latin finals.
BTW, you should try dancing. I didn't dance until I was 50. Once you figure out the rhythm of the dance, and you learn some basic moves which are the same for all of the dances, you are on your way!
Rich-
Oh, I'm sure I'd do fine, I was in ballet as a kid and did quite well. But as an adult, I'd rather have a root canal than go out dancing.
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Waahhhhh - you should dance. I think everyone should dance. Great for the mind, body, and spirit. Maybe the best thing anyone can do.
Did you ever notice how gracefully the Cubans grow old? They live almost as long as Americans, yet they spend about $600/capita vs. our $16,000/capita. It's the dance - I am sure. -
Well, it ain't my thing. And I think I missed your point about the Cubans and money? huh?
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Sorry, Cubans pay $600/capita for medical expenses - yet are very healthy and live almost as long as the average American. That's all they do in Cuba - dance. Salsa!
Well, maybe sometime in the future, you'll get yourself dancing. Lots of fun. Highly recommended to all.
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Yes! And it will probably be treated like synchronised swimming...which is a shame because to be good enough to compete with the best in the world in just about any endeavour, you have to be committed and talented (probably reflects the competitive nature of human beings). Ballroom dancers train physically for hours every day (unlike bridge players) and they even have to go to the gym! As for accidents happening, just imagine flubbing a "Death Spiral"...
I suppose it also depends on which existing sport has to be scrapped to make way for DanceSport.-
But, all of this subjective rankings seems to me makes it more of an art than a sport.
A sport to me is something where one scores more (or less, as in golf) than another. Or one runs faster, or throws further. But, whose to say that one looks better than another. Hmmmm ... I have a problem with this.
However, Bridge - now that is a sport. -
The ideal of the Olympics is not to "axe" a sport. If its included, it will be a standalone. -
But, with your definition, richrf, sports would then include cockcroach racing, hotdog eating contents, and dance-a-thons but not gymnastics and ice skating! Anyway, I enjoy the latter more than the former and am grateful for their inclusion as Olympic sports.
wolfcreek, did you know that softball and baseball are excluded from the 2012 London Games? You would think that once an Olympic sport, always an Olympic sport but events can be included/excluded subject to the voting preferences of IOC members. -
Hi Linmei,
Well cockroach racing would be out, unless there are human cockroaches.
But yes, hotdog crunching would be more of a "sport" by my definition, but pretty disgusting to watch. So you have a point.
But, still, I don't think it is possible to judge Ballroom Dancing or Figure skating as a "sport". It is, in my view, an art (dance), where the artists have figured out how to parlay their art into some real money by pretending there is really some objective criteria to judge one person better than another. It really is just a matter of taste. Or worse, the judges choose the cutest skater (or dancer) since that dancer is more likely to attract advertising dollars, and more money for the governing committee.
I think the whole Olympics thing is out of wach anyway - so if they want artists competing against each other for a gold, or cockroaches competing against ostriches - its O.K. with me.
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I want chess in first. We need some brain games for some sports. I play chess online. One minute games with 2 seconds for each move. Sometimes longer. It would be fun to show live games on TV. Longer probably though since the quality of the game goes down with faster time controls.
Dancing is fun. I don't think it would work in the olympics though.-
Has anyone ever gotten injured playing chess - I mean other than a plan assassination? Anyway, I play a good game of Backgammon. Maybe there is hope for me yet, to make my dreams come true.
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I'm not sure I care. Living in the US, I can't stand watching the Olympics anyway, not the way NBC does it.-
But you should care. After all, it is the OLYMPICS!
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what's wrong with the way they do it? Can't be any worse than the CBC, lol. Maybe you should get cable and pick up a Canadian station.
Actually, I like being able to watch the canadian & us stations. Our channels cover more of the canadian athletes, of course, but I find some of the american coverage a bit different. Sometimes more over the top, but american's know how to do tv! -
Only commercials and American athletes. No basic coverage of key sporting events.
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yes, I have noticed that mark, we cover all the major stuff and focus on our athletes. Sometimes I tune into the american channel and am surprised at what they're not showing.
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I might not have ever noticed, but after viewing a few games on German and Austrian TV, I have come to expect more than the narrow parochialism that NBC offers.
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I miss how it once was, with more real information on the athletes, and actual coverage, not tape delayed and edited for time.
In another life, I worked with the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and it was the infusion of money from such sponsors as Coke, McDonalds, etc that has diluted the coverage of an Olympic fortnight. It's about the commercials, not the athletes. That is truly a conflict with the ideals of the Olympic games.
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No. I can't see how it would work. And DanceSport is more of a competition league type thing, not all ballroom dancing/competitions is/are DanceSport.-
I agree. But I guess the case that they are making is that if Figure Skating is in the Olympics, why not Ballroom Dancing.
Anyhow, the pros and amateurs are fighting on who should control the whole thing. BTW, I loved "Strictly Ballroom".
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What turns me off about the Olympics is the money wasted...
It is almost as if this potentially great global event is held hostage to its charletan organizers...
For five years Ueberroth served as the organizer of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. He was a prominent figure in the games, receiving the Olympic Order in gold at its conclusion. Due to the success of the games, he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1984. Under Ueberroth's leadership and management, the first privately financed Olympic Games resulted in a surplus of nearly $250 million.
If the olympics were in the trust and care of honest competent people such as Ueberroth they could be expanded and produce benefits to mankind...
Why not Ball Room Dancing ?
It is ridiculous that China can spend 23 billion on the olympics but can't spend a penny to upgrade their industry to produce less pollution...-
I lost interest in the Olympics a long time ago, just like I lost interest in most spectator sports. Its hard to get excited about steroid-stuff, disrespectful athletes, who are extremely well paid, and seem more excited about getting drunk than they are in the sport they are playing. I think the only sport I watch nowadays is the World Cup, and Tiger Woods (I consider Woods a sport).
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Well, I am with you Rich. I like watching TEAMS and ardent competitors that take the time to master their sport.
I used to have specific teams in my life that I wouldn't miss, and criticized anyone for jumping ship to watch another team simply because they are winning. I do it now...but for a much different reason. I like teams like the Detroit Pistons (despite my disdain for professional sports) because they are built on a team aspect, and Tiger Woods is clearly the most consistent and dominant player to be in any sport these days. Roger Federer was there, but has recently slipped.
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I like the idea of ballroom dancing being part of the Olympics. It seems like a far more worthy activity for inclusion than card games or some of the other sedantry activities they've included. But are they only allowing ballroom, or will they be introducing other forms of dance such as jazz, tap, street etc, or is this restricted to classical ballroom?-
The moment one turns what has been, for generations, an art form into competition, one has killed off the spirit of creativity. -
Let me say, as a dancer, anything other than ballroom would NOT even have slight potential to work AT ALL.
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I responded thus on the other, more superficial thread:
"No, but the competitions should be more widely televised. Forget this "Dancing with People Who Aren't Really Stars" crap, I want to see real pros show people how it's done."
I still feel that way, but I feel that way about a lot of things that are now considered "Olympic sports". Figure skating makes sense to me, the subjective requirements for a certain difficulty and specific minimum abilities. Ice dancing, on the other hand, was added strictly as a way to try to get people to watch the winter Olympics on TV. I'd rather watch the speed skating and skeleton competitions. Now those are exciting!-
Yep. I like sports where there is a definite winner - speed, distance, score. Not, a bunch of judges, sort of liking something or sort of not. Let's keep art and sports seperate. Can you imagine Picasso vs. Rembrandt? Makes no sense.
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legbamel- There's a show called America's Ballroom Challenge. It's basically the national championship televised under the facade of being sort of like a reality show.
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Is that the show that is broadcast on PBS? I saw it, but for some reason I didn't like the format or something. Usually I like watching any kind of dance show, but this one didn't make it with me.
But you name it, and if it is dance, I watch it. Love all types. -
Heh, I meant the objective requirements for figure skating, obviously.
I used to watch the championships on PBS. I never know when they're on, any more. We don't watch enough TV for me to catch promos any more. Do you suppose many people subscribe to TV Guide so that they don't have to watch TV?
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As a dancer, I certainly do feel that dance is athletic, but I also believe that turning any dance form into a competitive event cheapens it as an art form.
If that's the direction that the ballroom dancing pedagogues wish to take their form then that's their choice. -
I don't mind if it is included, but if there aren't lifts and acrobatics, it really isn't of the nature of a sport. I don't like to watch the "Dancing with the Obsolete Stars" because there isn't really much winning and losing. Its about popularity. (Although from what I can tell, most of the winners were clearly better than the rest).
I think it is high time that the IOC steps back and takes a look at the motto of the games, revises its direction and gets back to amateurs and truly worthwhile sports.
I was agast when the US sent the Dream Team to the Olympics. So what, we are losing to the Russians who have Team Families (albeit paid). Its about the games, not the money.
I will be going into a great deal of these things on the Accountability side on my blog in weeks, and months to come. -
@wolfcreek
Yep, We are pretty much on the same wavelength partner. Sports is just one big advertisement nowadays, and since I am not buying anything anymore, I have not interest. But now and then, I watch the same as you.
Cya,
Rich -
Ooh! I can't wait to see ballroom dancers trying to break each other's knee caps before the Olympic games. LOL! But it probably wouldn't be something so violent...maybe just tearing all the feathers and sequins off each other's gowns or breaking one another's high heels. Uh oh...stillettos and agressive competition..hmmmm...I'm forseeing some puncture wounds here. LOL!!-
My guess, is that they will switch tan sprays on each other. Maybe substitute purple paint for a tan spray can. Oooooooh - Weeeeee.
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It wouldn't take much to force a major wardrobe malfunction for some of those ladies, nor to disable a wicked spike heel. Think of the potential hidden in those fluffy, feathery bits and sharp spangles. Oooh, that could be dangerous. Forget the Olympics, I'm thinking, "New Thursday night television drama."
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The possibility are endless.
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Why not?I grew up playing chess...and that is considered a sport now. Ice Dancing is in the Olympics, why not ballroom dancing?
What do you think the drug tests would be for? hahahahahaha -
The question is moot.
The real question is "should they be doing competitive ballroom dancing in Beijing, given the PRC's atrocious domestic human rights record, continuing oppression in Tibet, and support for the genocide in Darfur?"-
I never thought that a government's attitude towards its population had anything to do with the Olympics. The British were atrocious to its colonies. The German thing was unreal. Then there was the Russian Olympics, which we and some others boycotted. And now China. I think it is a little late for the Olympic Committee to put itself on some pedestal for human rights. It is just a fantastic money making machine. I quit watching it a long time ago.
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It's not too late for the Olympic Committee to start thinking about those human values (competing on the playing field, not on the battlefield) they claim to uphold.
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If I understand this group, as I think I do, humanitarianism is not really part of their own life journey. If one of them, does at some point, get some pang of guilt (as often happens as one gets older), that person would most likely be promptly ejected, as James Bond use to eject unwelcomed passengers in his Aston Martin. There is no room for conscience when it comes to big money.
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I'm a little confused. Did someone say that bridge and bowling are now Olympic sports???
I personally like watching the Olympics, but Ballroom dancing just doesn't seem like it should be classified as an Olympic sport. It certainly requires a lot of athleticism, but it seems more like art than sport.-
I'd rather have an art like ballroom be part of the Olympics than playing cards. On the other hand it does seem like they are just desperate to drag anything in if they think they can get an audience where advertisers will pay
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The Olympic Committee official recognizes bridge, bowling and ballroom dancing (official DanceSport). However, this does not mean that they will actually be accepted as an Olympic event. The Committee is always looking for hot new stuff that can be televised and draw an audience for revenue/advertising reasons. Ballroom dancing is hot right now, which is why it is getting some publicity. Heck, the Olympic Committee would put woman/mens mud wrestling on TV, if they thought they could make a few bucks. Did you ever take a look at this organization? They love their money and they are always fighting among themselves for a bigger piece of the pie.
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Agreed. Next thing you know, blogging will be an Olympic sport.
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Heaven forbid, we can't even agree on basic things like baking soda far less decide whose blog is more deserving of a gold medal
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Pishaw! We all agreed that baking soda is the new black and that duct tape should take the silver medal in the usefulness category. [finishes anti-smiting shield] I want to be an Olympic blogging judge. I'd blast those baking-soda-loving money-grubbers right out of competition. [insert fiercely scowling smilie here]
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The olympics haven't realized that nobody cares about them.
Duct Tape gets my vote for the gold medal in the usefulness category.
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