One of the Biggest Advantages of Dance? You Don't Have to Choose.

One of the things I love about dance sport is that it doesn't really force you into one box.

Think about most sports.

You have your individual sports: swimming, tennis, chess and plenty of others. Yes, there are exceptions. Swimmers can compete in relays. Tennis players can play doubles. But, generally speaking, your performance is your performance.

Then you have team sports like football, rugby and netball, where the collective effort is what matters. If the team wins, you win. If the team loses, you lose.

Dance is a little different.

And I think that's one of its biggest advantages.

You can dance as a soloist. You can dance with a partner as a duo. You can be part of a trio or quartet. You can dance in a smaller crew of five or more people. You can be part of a much larger team. And then you can have what we call a mega team, where dozens of dancers come together for one routine.

That's a lot of different opportunities sitting inside one sport.

And here's where it gets really interesting.

You don't have to be good at everything

Imagine a footballer who is brilliant individually but plays for a team that simply isn't clicking. It doesn't matter how good that individual player is. The team result is still the team result.

Dance gives you a little more flexibility.

A dancer might not be a particularly strong soloist yet, but they could be an outstanding team dancer. Maybe they don't have the confidence to stand alone in front of a judging panel, but put them in a crew and suddenly they come alive.

They understand formations. They listen to the music. They learn choreography quickly. They are reliable. They make the people around them better.

That's a skill.

And it should be recognised as one.

I've also seen the opposite.

You can have a very strong individual dancer who does exceptionally well in solos or a duo, while the larger team is still developing. That dancer shouldn't have to wait for everybody else to catch up before they can experience success.

They can continue developing individually while the team develops collectively.

That's a pretty powerful thing.

You can develop at different speeds

This is something I think parents sometimes overlook.

Not every dancer develops at the same rate.

One dancer might be ready for a solo this year. Another might need another year or two.

One might thrive in a crew immediately. Another might need to build confidence before they're comfortable performing alongside a large group.

And that's okay.

The mistake is thinking that development has to happen in one straight line.

It doesn't.

Dance gives you multiple pathways at the same time.

You can work on your solo. You can learn how to partner with somebody. You can learn how to function inside a team. You can learn how to perform in a much larger group.

Each experience teaches you something different.

And often, what you learn in one area makes you better in another.

A dancer who learns how to command a stage as a soloist may become a better leader in a crew.

A dancer who learns discipline and awareness in a large team may become much stronger as a soloist because they understand timing, spacing and musicality differently.

The skills transfer.

There isn't always an "all or nothing" result

This is probably my favourite part.

In many team sports, the result can feel very binary.

You won.

Or you lost.

In dance, you can walk away from the same competition with several different stories.

You might win your solo.

Your duo might place second.

Your crew might not make the final.

Your mega team might win.

And suddenly the day isn't defined by one result.

More importantly, your development isn't defined by one result either.

You might discover that you're a fantastic soloist but need to work on your teamwork.

Or that you're an incredible team player but need to develop your confidence when you're dancing alone.

Or perhaps you realise that you actually love performing with other people more than you ever expected.

That's useful information.

Every performance gives you another piece of the puzzle.

And that's what I like about dance sport.

It gives a young dancer room to discover where they are strongest without closing the door on where they might still grow.

You don't have to be the best at everything.

You just have to keep getting better at something.

And if you keep doing that, consistently, you'll be surprised at how many doors eventually open.