Memorandum submitted by Jonathan Burrows
I am a former Royal Ballet soloist and now a
choreographer with some international standing. I am currently
touring a performance called Both Sitting Duet, which has
been invited so far to 17 countries around the world, and was
given an award in 2002 by the Foundation for Contemporary Performance
Arts in New York, in recognition for my ongoing contributions
to contemporary dance
My comment is this:
You ask are the benefits of dance as a sporting
activity recognised and built upon effectively?
I think that it needs to be said clearly that
the joy of dance is that it isn't a sport. Dance is a way to come
together with people in a non-competitive way that lets your heart
literally soar with the connection you feel in that moment. It
lets us use our bodies in a non-functional way that is only about
how we feel and not about trying to score a goal or lose weight
or any other distraction. And this puts us in touch with something
deeper within ourselves. It is also about our love of rhythm,
something which sport doesn't so much concern itself with.
We live in a sports saturated culture, and dance
offers something else. Please do help dance to be more financially
secure, but please don't turn it into a sport!
And don't forget in your discussions that young
people meet every weekend to dance together in huge numbers in
clubs. This is also dancing, and an important part of the economy
to which dance makes a contribution.
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