Are Dancers Athletes? Gene Kelly’s Surprising Answer!

Are dancers athletes? It’s a question that’s everywhere now — but back in the 1950s, Gene Kelly already had a very specific answer. In this episode, we dig into a rare piece of dance history where Kelly draws a surprising line between dancers and athletes. His language is careful, intentional, and honestly… both shocking & illuminating. What he says — and what he doesn’t say — might change the way you see movement altogether.

We’ll unpack what this means for dancers today, how we talk about physicality and performance, and why language matters more than ever in the dance world.

Watch this podcast on YouTube for the full effect!

Check out my series: Why Dance is a Sport | Part I

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Transcript, Gene Kelly’s words: 

“Now all these men, dancers and athletes alike, possess something very much in common, skill and physical movement. And more important than that, physical movement and rhythm. Now just as the dancer, the athlete does not exist who doesn't move with a certain rhythm. His timing is based on the same elements as the dancers.

There are just two differences. The athlete, after having trained his body and learned to move rhythmically in whatever the demands of its court may be, must change his rhythms to meet the spontaneous requirement for the instant. He's also playing to win a game, and the ultimate thing is the competition. Now the dancer, after having learned to control his body rhythmically, goes even further and with the use of music, tries to express something to the onlooker. Now this could be done all with a deep emotion or with a light one or it could be just a story told visually.

In short, we could say that the athlete uses his body skills and controls in a competitive manner but the dancer must have something to say…

Mickey Mantle throwing a ball is dancing. And even though he is not doing it to music, it’s still a beautiful, rhythmic thing to watch.”

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's almost a given these days.

(00:04):
Dancers are athletes.
They train like athletes, move like athletes, think like athletes, and they absolutely
should be recognized that way.
But here's something I noticed when I returned to dance after nearly three decades away.
I kept hearing that word.
As it pertains to dancers, teachers in class, social media posts, dance workshops, but growing

(00:31):
up, I never once heard it used to describe dancers.
Which is not a criticism, I'm glad dancers are finally being recognized for our physical
rigor and discipline, but language matters.
Because I never heard it at all growing up, I remember pausing the first few times I
heard.

(00:52):
Derser athletes around the time I first returned to class.
It felt new and at the same time completely accurate, I actually loved it.
I thought, you know what, that makes total sense.
It fits, I get it.
But that shift in language reminded me just how recent this framing might be and how quickly

(01:13):
it's become the norm.
Just like any other art form, dance evolves, new words come in, old ones fade out, old ones
come back again.
And today we're going to explore one moment in time that shows us just how far we've come
and where some of these ideas began.
You'll hear directly from Jean Kelly one of the most iconic dancers of all time as he

(01:38):
draws a powerful comparison between athletes and dancers and makes a few distinctions you
might not expect.
But before I get into it, welcome to Hey Dancer.
My podcast where I dig into all things dance, dance class, dance science, evolutions and dance
and so on.

(01:58):
I'm your host Miller Daurey and hey if you enjoy conversations like these, make sure you
are subscribed or following, leave a review, comment and share with your dance fam.
Okay, here we go.
So a few months back while researching my series on whether dance is a sport, I stumbled
on a video clip that blew me away.

(02:20):
I feel so lucky that I found this and I haven't been able to forget it because in it, arguably
the most famous dancer of all time shares something powerful and revealing about how dancers
were viewed back then.
Let me set the scene.
It's 1958.
Jean Kelly is standing in a gymnasium, complete with gymnastics apparatus and exercise mats

(02:45):
alongside some of the most iconic athletes of the day and of all time.
Mickey Mantle.
What?
Easily one of the heroes in baseball history, top 10 of all time, almost mythic in stature.
Just to give an idea, a Mickey Mantle baseball card was recently valued at over $10 million.

(03:06):
Then we have Sugar Ray Robinson who is often regarded as the greatest boxer of all time.
Are you kidding me here?
Bob Koozy, considered one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.
Johnny Unitus, considered the prototype of the modern era, marquee quarterback and is
regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.

(03:27):
Vixacious and iconic tennis player known for his remarkable longevity and success in major
championships.
Legends, all of them.
I don't know about you, but I just geek out over this stuff.
Can you tell?
Anyway, dancers are there too in the room with these professional giants in sports.

(03:48):
They're just, you know, interspersed among them.
So let's cut to Gene Kelly.
If you're listening to this only, I've included a transcript in the show notes in the event.
Any of his words are a little bit hard to catch even though the audio quality is just fair.
I think you'll understand him just fine.
Now, all these men, dancers and athletes alike, possess something very much in common, skill

(04:14):
and physical movement, and more important than that, physical movement in rhythm.
But just as the dancer, the athlete does not exist who doesn't move with a certain rhythm.
His timing is based on the same elements as the dance moves.
They're just too different because the athlete, after having trained his body and learned
to move rhythmically and whatever the demands of its court may be, must change his

(04:36):
rhythms to meet the spontaneous requirement for the instant.
He's also playing to win a game and the ultimate thing is the competition.
Now, the dancer, after having learned to control his body rhythmically, goes even further
and with the use of music, tries to express something to the onlooker.
This can be done all with a deep emotional, with a like one, or it can be just a story

(05:00):
told visually.
Did you notice?
He doesn't call the dancers' athletes and he is deliberate with his words.
He says athletes change rhythm on the fly to win, to beat the clock, to beat the opponent.
That is the goal.
But dancers, our goal isn't to win, it's to connect, to communicate, to express.

(05:24):
He's making that clear.
Now what really stops me is how often he repeats the distinction, dancers and athletes.
He doesn't collapse them into one group.
He's careful.
He sees the similarities, discipline, rhythm, training, but insists on keeping their roles
distinct.

(05:45):
That is intentional and I think it says a lot.
And then just to drill the point in home even further, he says this.
In short, we could say that the athlete uses his body skills and controls in a competitive
way.
And that's the difference, isn't it?

(06:06):
Or at least for most of history it was that the athlete moves to win.
The dancer moves to communicate.
And then he proves it.
He goes down the line, asking each athlete to demonstrate a signature move.
We got vixacious giving us a tennis backhand stroke.
Many united crouches low behind the center ready to receive the ball and command the play.

(06:31):
Bob Kuzzi does a pivot which he says is the movement in basketball used most frequently
either to get away from a man or as an offensive move.
Sugar Ray Robinson says one of the most devastating punches in boxing is the Bolo punch.
And then he throws one but not to gene.

(06:51):
He just does it in the air.
And then we got Mickey Mantle who slides into an imaginary second base.
And Kelly takes each of those and combines it into choreography.
In other words, dance can absorb anything.
Side note, if you're not watching, you may want to click on the link in the show notes
because yeah, Gene Kelly, it's a sight.

(07:13):
Sports as Kelly proves I think are full of beauty.
No doubt.
But for something to become dance, the movement had to be extended.
interpreted it needs to tell a story so what does that mean for us today in this
podcast? Well, I'm not here to tell you how to label yourself but I do think it's

(07:35):
helpful to know where we came from. Language evolves definitions expand. What
once lived in separate categories now often blurs and that is not a bad thing
but I also think there's power in Gene Kelly's framing because it
reminds us we dancers are not just training for speed or strength or tricks or

(07:57):
feats we're training to say something and if we forget that we might miss what
makes us dancers unique what makes dance unique so this isn't about taking
sides on the is Dan so sports debate or is it best to call dancers athletes or
not I'm just offering you a piece of history a reflection and a reminder dance

(08:23):
has always been physical but it has also always been emotional musical and
deeply human let's honor all of that oh and I think my favorite line from Kelly is
now Mickey Maddle throwing a ball is dancing and even though it's not doing it
to music it's still a beautiful rhythmic thing to watch the way I love that Mickey

(08:48):
mantle throwing a ball is dancing when we as dancers understand that all
movement can be dance it reminds us that artistry is really everywhere we just
have to see it that way and it it reaffirms our legacy and the power we hold
through the body and I'll end on one of my favorite quotes by Shana LaFlore

(09:11):
quote it takes an athlete to dance but an artist to be a dancer and quote don't
forget to subscribe follow like comment share engage in some capacity it really
helps the podcast out it helps me out I really appreciate it somebody in your
dance fam would 100% benefit from hearing this podcast or watching it you know what I'm

(09:35):
saying all right until next time keep moving keep questioning and keep telling
your story
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