Senior Project Interview

1. How do you feel about the fact that dance is not recognized as a sport?

• being an art is more prestigious
• recreational dance does not contain the artistry

2. What are your thoughts on how to fix this problem?

• dancers deserve recognition (such as more scholarships)
• dance is as demanding as other sports
• TV shows help give recognition to dance ( those such as So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars).

3. What does dance mean to you?

• "It's my life. It's how I express myself."
• able to touch lives and have a positive impact on others.
• "Words are limiting. Movement has no constrictions."

4. How serious do you feel about dance becoming a recognized sport?

• cares about dance getting the respect it deserves but not necessarily to be called anything specific.
• dance should get equality

5. Have you thought about this problem before or is this the first time?

• it is not the first time
• dancers get paid less
• inequality between other athletes/actors and dancers

6. What would you do to help more people recognize dance as a sport?

• promote shows with dance in them
• strength in numbers (Dancers Alliance, SAG, AFTRA)

7. In what ways do you connect to the art of dance?

• teaching
• taking class
• choreographing
• supporting events and shows that showcase dancers

8.What are your feelings on the opposing view of this topic?

• it is understandable if you are not invested and do not understand the importance
• should suggest to those people to try it and take a dance class

9. Does the topic of dance being a sport affect you on a personal level?

• Yes, many dance jobs are very demanding but we do not get paid anywhere near the same amount of money as other athletes or actors.

10. What do you think would be necessary in order to get society to recognize dance as a sport?

• keep shows on the air that showcase dance talent
• keep dance programs in schools
• close range and easily accesible to the public
• will have an impact on the individual

Interviewer: Samantha Dorman
Interviewee: Jenny Mullaney

Online Source #5

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	“Competitive Cheer and Dance as Sports”
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Terry Zeigler
Title of the Entire Website (not www.)	Suite101
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	None Given
Date Page was Last Revised	1 May 2009
Date You Read It	15 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://terry-zeigler.suite101.com/competitive-cheer-and-dance-teams-a114155

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

Not only do dancer practice constantly, when they are not they are “taking additional technical and/or tumbling courses outside of their team practices.” (Zeigler).

Dancers go through “hours of practice, competing through pain and injuries, and a high level of training” (Zeigler).

In dance there is no down time, they “practice year round and are required to participate in summer camps and multiple competitions throughout the year.” (Zeigler).

The author feels as though “dance teams need to be recognized and treated as sports at both the high school and college levels.” (Zeigler).

Being unregulated because of the lack of recognition, athletic directors still do not consider dance “as part of their sports programs” (Zeigler).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

The author tries to explain that by definition, dance and cheer are sports.  She states that dancers and cheerleaders are active and competitive while practicing year round.  The author believes that high school as well as college should recognize dance and cheer as sports because of the relation they share to other so called “sports”.

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

The author of this article is Terry Zeigler.  She is a certified athletic trainer as well as a professor in Kinesiology.  She specializes in prevention, recognition, as well as treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

The author does not seem to have anything to gain from this article it is more informational.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

The author does have a somewhat biased opinion toward the side of dance being a sport but does not have much to gain from the article or any sign of personal experience.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author makes references but not many, one to the Dictionary and another to the University of Maryland.  In a way the references help but also detract because it begins to get very confusing as to what she is trying to say.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

I can use this article in my project because it will provide me with more quotes to back up my argument.

Online Source #4

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	“Cheerleading is a sport but dance isn’t?”
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	None Given
Title of the Entire Website (not www.)	Student.com
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	None Given
Date Page was Last Revised	16 February 2012
Date You Read It	15 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://articles.student.com/life/sports/cheerleading-is-a-sport-but-dance-isnt

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

People consider cheer and dance to be “an art and not a sport” (Student.com).

Dancers must stay fit and “work out… more than the cheerleaders do” (Student.com).

While trying to be well rounded in the dance field, “most dancers [do more than] one type of dancing” (Student.com).

The author states that she/he has “never had a half time dance for cheerleading that is harder than [his/her] dance team dances” (Student.com).

Unlike cheerleaders, dancers must “take dance classes on top of the dance team practice” (Student.com).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

The article explains how dance is more difficult than cheerleading.  The author uses personal experience to make the reader understand the way he/she feels about the subject.  The author compares the two in saying that he/she can relate because he/she has taken part in both.

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

The site is for students of all ages to post articles and express their opinions on.  It is a web community center for students.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

The author attempts to explain the toughness of dance practice and the physical endurance dance takes.  The authors biased opinion leads the reader to believe that he/she has personal connection as well as strong feeling toward the subject.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

There is a large amount of bias in this article. It is based upon personal experience the author has encountered.  The author expresses frustration through personal experiences of dance and cheer.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author does not make references to other people or articles. It is purely based on opinion of the author.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

This article can be used in my project to voice an opinion of others as well as my own.

Online Source #3

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	“Competitive Cheer and Dance Gaining Ground”
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Terry Zeigler
Title of the Entire Website (not www.)	Suite101
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	None given
Date Page was Last Revised	10 May 2009
Date You Read It	14 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://terry-zeigler.suite101.com/competitive-cheer-and-dance-gaining-ground-a116471

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

Colleges sponsor and designate their teams even though “the NCAA does not recognize cheer and dance as “sports”’ (Zeigler).

Although some schools do not consider dance to be a sport, “192 universities sponsored competitive dance teams” (Zeigler).

Although Scholarships are offered for many different sports, “there were no full scholarships provided for dance” (Zeigler).

Zeigler states that “the top sources of funding for dance and cheer were split between athletics, institutional funds, and fundraising” (Zeigler).

One thing will lead to another in dance being recognized as a sport as long “as more universities adopt these programs as varsity sports” (Zeigler).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

The author discusses whether or not dance and cheer should be considered sports.  She is in favor of them being sports but does not have to personal connection to the topic. She shows the reader a percentage of scholarships offered for dance and cheer to show how colleges do not think of them as “sports”.


Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

The author of this article is Terry Zeigler.  She is a certified athletic trainer as well as a professor in Kinesiology.  She specializes in prevention, recognition, as well as treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

The author does not seem to have any gain from the article it is more information on the fact.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

The author is not completely biased toward one way or the other.  The article is more informational than biased.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author makes some references in the article to help prove her point such as statistics and percentages.  These references add to the author’s purpose of writing the article by showing more detail as well as a visual number for the reader.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

 This source can be used in my project because of the statistics/percentages provided in the article.

Online Source #2

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	“The Athleticism of Dance”
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Author: Marjie Foster
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Athens Move
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	None
Date Page was Last Revised	4 January 2012
Date You Read It	3 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.athensmove.com/sports/sports-feature/the-athleticism-of-dance/

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

Dance takes all the technical aspects of any other sport while “combine[d with] the athleticism [of] the art of entertainment” (Foster).

Many colleges now offer “scholarships… and academic credit parallel to physical education courses” which shows that the colleges and universities “promote [dance] as a sport” (Foster).

Dance is a little different than other sports because in sports there is “one standard uniform and basic goal” as opposed to dance which “is open to interpretation” (Foster).

Not only is dance physical but it “is a joyful expression of life,” which helps release any emotional drama hidden beneath your appearance (Foster).

Dance offers many benefits such as “fitness and fun” (Foster).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):
 
Marjie Foster writes about the “Athleticism of Dance” in saying that dance is just the same as other sports.  She also says that people who have tried to dance or have done it on a show have given it its props for being harder than it looks.  Dance includes all the technical aspects of other sports as well as entertainment for its audience.

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

Marjie Foster is a writer, editor, and publisher, as well as an editorial director for Global MOVE Media. She was a tennis and softball player.  Her son played many sports throughout high school and college and she was very involved with the sports.   

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

The author has been involved with many sports but I believe that she is writing this article to inform others of the facts.  She does not have anything to gain from this article.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

The author favors the side of dance being a sport because she states the opportunities that dance can give someone such as “a joyful expression” as well as “fitness and fun”(Foster).

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author cites Cassidy Carson of the Studio Dance Academy as well as making a reference to the show Dancing with the Stars. These add to the credibility because it adds a point of view that is very logical.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

The logic in this source will help me to state my own opinion with more factual evidence.