Dance and the Athlete Poster

Dancers and athletes share many of the attributes and abilities needed for performing at their best. Both types of movers must be physically and mentally fit to handle the moment-by-moment changes and long-term demands of an entire performance, whether it is a game or a dance. In fact, ballet training has long been a part of training for sports, including professional American football. Big-name players such as Willie Gault, Lynn Swann, and Walter Payton have taken ballet classes to up their game. As more sport teams engage in dance classes, the dance studio has become a second training center for many athletes. The Dance and the Athlete poster demonstrates the similarities that all movers have in physical training, intellectual development, and health. Put the full-color 36-by-24-inch Dance and the Athlete poster on the wall of your dance studio or classroom to help students understand how they are truly performing athletes. Students will discover how each other’s ways will improve their training and employ injury-prevention strategies to gain better physical and mental prowess on the field or on the stage.

Gayle Kassing, PhD, taught beginning ballet through advanced ballet for more than 25 years at four universities. Kassing earned a BFA in ballet and theater, an MS in modern dance, a PhD in dance and related arts, and an MAT in K-12 curriculum integrated with technology. She was the 2010 National Dance Association (NDA) artist scholar. She is a member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). She is the author of History of Dance and Beginning Ballet and coauthor of Dance Teaching Methods and Curriculum Design. Kassing is an acquisitions editor at Human Kinetics.