"That Sounds Like Fun," and other insults to the dance major

Abstract

“That sounds like fun” and other insults to the Dance Major What do you say when someone responds negatively to the thing you study with great passion in college? It pays to give it some thought. by Breanna Rathbun We’ve all had to deal with it at one point or another, when someone, maybe unintentionally, discredits what we as dance majors are studying. I’ve heard it all, from pressing questions such as, “So, do you just have fun since you’re a dance major?” and “Is dance actually a major?” to “Is dance a sport?” and, of course, everybody’s favorite, “So what are you going to do with that?” I would guess that your initial reaction to pressing questions such as these would be to roll your eyes, get offended, and maybe feel the urge to say something sarcastic in response—or at least that’s how I typically feel. I can never quite understand why I feel like I have to reduce my area of study to simple terms when I am faced with these sorts of conversations. Why is it so normal to have to defend ourselves as dance majors? As I wonder about this further, I think one of the main sources of confusion stems from people generally not having any prior knowledge of the fine arts at a collegiate level, and not seeing why dance is so important. So why is it so important? Why does the world need it? Why do we as dancers need it? Why is it so crucial that it has been incorporated in almost every university and college in our nation? I think that we need to arm ourselves with reasons that our area of study holds just as much importance as any other field. I spend my weekends working in a restaurant close to campus, so I get to meet all kinds of people from all different professions and walks of life. My co-workers and managers come from different backgrounds, so it was a chance for me to do some research. I spend all day and week at school with my dancing peers and then spend my weekends with people who are completely removed from dance. In short, I live in two very different worlds. Now and again, a customer will ask me about school, and when they ask me what I’m studying, I proudly reply “dance” and then brace myself to start explaining. It’s typical for someone to say “Oh,” as they nod their head and then the conversation ends, which is fine. I’m sure I’ve done the same at one point to someone else. But I always got this feeling that “dance” wasn’t enough and to be honest, I wanted more of a reaction out of people. I started using more descriptive words in my responses by saying, “I’m getting my BFA in Dance Performance,” to add credibility and ignite some further interest. The reactions? One time a woman expressed her concern for my financial future by advising me to marry rich if I was going into the arts. On two separate occasions I have had a group of men, and an older woman stunned that UCI even had a dance major. They scoffed as they said they “didn’t know you could major in that.” Well, gentlemen (and lady), you sure can. My co-workers, on the other hand, have their ideas about what being a dance major actually entails. One asked, “So do you just have fun since you’re just a dance major?” Pause. I thought to myself, “Yeah, I mean we usually have performances during finals week, and I haven’t actually had a full day off since last June, and I danced for six hours before coming to work today so, yeah, it’s just fun.” I ended up calmly explaining that it was actually a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it because I love it.