"Dancers are the athletes of God" ~Albert Einstein .

I was at a school this week doing a dance workshop and this quote was written above the studio door, but what does it mean?

I asked the year 12 students in my workshop what they thought it meant and they said it was there as an inspirational quote but they hadn’t thought about what it really means.
One student said they thought it meant dancers were like athletes because they needed to be really fit.
Yes I agree we are 'athletes' in that sense but what does  “athletes of God” mean, something much more than mere physical excellence I think?


I have tried to interpret  it  for myself……..   I saw in an article the quote ;
‘A dancer is an artist who is an athlete’ (Brinson & Dick 1996).


Dictionary definitions

a dancer is a person who performs a dance or a person whose profession is dancing, 
an athlete is a person who is proficient in sports or physical exercise,
an artist is a person who practices or performs any of  the creative arts,
a person is an individual human being. 

I think the description ‘a dancer is an athlete’ is the easy bit to explain. A dancer has to be supremely fit and healthy. Of course you need to be in shape to be a professional dancer just like you would to be a professional athlete. 

So is a dancer an artiste or athlete?

I think dancers are first and foremost artistes. They communicate narratives and express emotions through movement which is inspired by music and rhythms.
But dancers are also most definitely athletes too. Their co-ordinative abilities, fitness, strength and stamina match those of most athletes.
The long working hours, daily classes, rehearsals and performances require both strength and virtuosity. Dancers working in an ongoing production will be familiar with 8 show weeks, translating to 6 day weeks with only 1 day off. Over a 6 to 12 month period (the usual length of a contract), this taxing schedule also requires strength and dedication on both a physical and artistic level. Sometimes  it is  tougher for the musical theatre dancers, as it is not standard practice to be given daily class by the company like a ballet or contemporary  company does. They have to take it upon themselves to maintain their fitness and dance technique.

I remember one principal of a dance college I went to audition at told us a professional dancer has to be fitter than a professional footballer.


So dancers are both artistes and athletes. But what about the dancer as a person, an individual human being? What about the reference to 'athletes of God'?

Dance reaches deep into our physical and emotional being as well as being physically demanding. Dance is not just about being an athlete or technician it is an unexplained communication between mind, body and spirit. Many of us who dance are familiar with that phrase ‘born to dance’.  The outstanding dancer combines musicality and physical grace with an astonishing technique.
Dance is a powerful tool for expressing emotion and passion, one that can cross cultural divides. It has a value in society as a cultural and communication tool and has a sociological role as a means of non verbal communication.
 

This is where I think being likened to an ‘athlete of god’  imparts some spiritual connection and events for which there is no obvious agent which thus may be attributed to some higher force, ie: ‘God’.
The unexplainable side of  dance, the spiritual element that  embodies, not only physical excellence, but the communication of mind, body and spirit ! Professional dnacers  are supreme athletes but they also combine this with a spiritual side, grace, passion, emotion and musicality as an artiste  –  'athletes of god’.


I think the lyrics from the song ‘Electricity’ from the musical theatre show ‘Billy Elliot’  best describes how it feels to dance from that point of view   ……………………..

“I can't really explain it,
I haven't got the words
It's a feeling that you can't control
I suppose it's like forgetting, losing who you are
And at the same time something makes you whole
It's like that there's a music playing in your ear
And I'm listening, and I'm listening and then I disappear

And then I feel a change
Like a fire deep inside
Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide
And suddenly I'm flying, flying like a bird
Like electricity, electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I'm free I'm free

It's a bit like being angry,
it's a bit like being scared
Confused and all mixed up and mad as hell
It's like when you've been crying
And you're empty and you're full
I don't know what it is, it's hard to tell
It's like that there's a music playing in your ear
But the music is impossible, impossible to hear
But then I feel it move me
Like a burning deep inside
Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide
And suddenly I'm flying, flying like a bird
Like electricity, electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I'm free I'm free
Electricity, sparks inside of me
And I'm free, I'm free
I'm free. Free I'm free”


What has this to do with my lines of inquiry ?

I think the idea of being an athlete as well as an artist and the need to be healthy to be an athlete fits in with my lines of inquiry and my developing ethical questions about  the well being and health of the dancer and why we should not only consider the dancer as an artist and as an athlete but also ultimately as a person. If dancers are as Einstein describes them, ‘athletes of god’,  we need to not only consider their health physically but also mentally and spiritually!