I often call dancers “Artistic Athletes”.
Why? Because that’s what they do and who they are.
Many of you wouldn’t know this but dance is officially classified as a sport - and rightly so. Dance is even a part of the Olympic Games now. Here’s the proof.
Unlike many other sports, dancers perform the most amazing feats but have to do it whilst making it look effortless - with a blasé look or even smiling. This is a far cry from the pained expressions of your track stars or other physically demanding sports; where a grimace is the staple mask of expression.
How do dancers get such amazing bodies? They train. Hard. For hours. Over years.
There is simply no shortcut to achieving a dancers body. But having an amazing body isn’t the goal. It is a residual effect of wanting to optimise the use of your tool of expression - your body - where if you can imagine a movement or feel the music, you want your body to be able to create that visual on demand.
Being a professional choreographer, I choose dancers who can bring my vision to life. And I’ve really imagined the most weird and wonderful things that dancers can do in performance using their bodies - and they never cease to amaze me.
How can you get a dancers body?
Well, the first step would be to start dancing - under professional, experienced and qualified guidance: like what we have at Dance Culture Studios (Humble brag - but factual 😉)
As with any (athletic) endeavour, an hour a week won’t cut it - if you want to see real change. A focussed effort is required and yes, pain comes part-and-parcel with it. But is is such a pleasurable pain because you don’t even feel what your body is doing. It’s fun!
But not everyone needs to pursue that level of dance. It should, first and foremost, be a release and an outlet for your emotional and creative expression. In fact, most people who dance treat it as such.
What style of dance would you need to do to get that dancers body?
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Below are pictures of dancers bodies according to their preferred style of dance. So it depends on your preference and aptitude. For example, if you want your jeans to fit nicely you wouldn’t go wrong with Kizomba. And have you SEEN Ballet dancers legs? Latin dancers have the most amazing back and arm muscles. But(t)(excuse the pun) don’t take my word for it: check the proof.
Written by Quintus Jansen
