When a dance performance takes the stage the audience is amazed at how graceful the dancers are, but behind the scenes lots of blood, sweat, and tears go into making each step seem effortless.

Most competitive dancers dance 3-5 days a week for at least two hours a day. Along with their competition classes where they learn and perfect the dances they compete, dancers also have to take ballet classes, technique classes, and, depending on the studio, acro/tumbling classes.

Dance teachers push their students to achieve greatness, but the drive has to come from within. If a dancer doesn’t push themselves, they won’t improve no matter how much their teachers help. In sports, especially dance, hard work and determination pays off.

When asked about the challenges of being a dancer, Franklin High School Freshman and Studio B dancer Rosalyn Smith said: “The hardest thing about being a dancer would be trying to get something you can’t get when you know it’s the only thing that’s in the way for being golden.”

Many people are under the impression that dance isn’t a sport because you don’t break a sweat. But dancers are quick to correct them, saying that you don’t see all the hard work that goes into a dance because the goal of the performance is to make difficult moves seem easy. Dancers believe that they’re athletes who play a sport because they put in just as much time and effort, if not more, than other athletes.

Competitive dancer at Express Dance and Acrobatics, Rachel Connelly, said: “Dance is a sport just like soccer is a sport. We work hard, we sweat, and we’re really competitive.”

Dance is also considered a sport due to how close team members are. When dancers are at competitions they share hotel rooms, dressing rooms, and makeup among other things. Dance teams are as close as families. They offer the same support that any other sports team would have.

Even though the controversy about whether or not dance is a sport will continue, dancers will always consider themselves athletes.