Dance, the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, to transmit an idea or emotion, release energy, or simply take pleasure in the movement itself.

Physical pressures put on dancers by current choreography and performance schedules make their physiology and conditioning just as important as the development of skills. However, even at the height of their professional careers, dancers’ cardiovascular power, muscle strength, muscle balance, bone, and joint integrity are the ‘Achilles Heels’ of a dance-only selection and training system. Recent data on male and female dancers have shown that additional exercise training can lead to enhanced health parameters and reduce the occurrence of dance accidents without interference with key artistic and aesthetic requirements. However, it seems that stringent selection and training schemes have succeeded in converting dance into an activity performed by individuals who have selectively acquired different flexibility characteristics compared to athletes.

Dance is a powerful emotion, but the art of dance is that impulse channelled by skilful performers into something that is intensely expressive and that may delight audiences who do not feel they want to dance by themselves.