Just like any other industry, dance goes through trends. Years ago, acro and gymnastics were their own arts. Mixing the two was unheard of at the time. However, in the 80s, acro completely disappeared, and very few gymnastics tricks were used in dance. Lyrical dance was the queen of the stage in the 90s, and contemporary wasn't even born yet. Modern dance only existed in modern schools, and even those dance schools considered this genre strange. Pom squads and drill teams/kicklines were hardly considered to be dance; in fact, many trained dancers made fun of it until the 90s. Still, only certain schools had trained dancers- but even those schools had very few teams with routines that resembled dance. The dance world is ever evolving, constantly going in new directions. Dance, like fashion, changes. This is where a foundation comes into play.
Dancers with a strong foundation in technique have the ability to change with trends. Take for instance a dancer who is heavily based in acro. She can do a billion tricks on stage that get your attention and twist herself in ways that make even your back hurt. We will refer to her as a trick pony. She has a handful of tricks she does really well, but she has to rely on those tricks for every dance she performs. Once those tricks are no longer relevant, she won't be either. Her dance career will be a "has been" in another 10 years unless she trains in a new way. Dancers focused on one or two tricks will leave them with very little in their bag of resources.
This is why ballet is SO IMPORTANT! Taking ballet does not automatically make a dancer a ballerina, nor does it mean that's all you'll end up being. Rather, it is the one thing that will catapult a dancer to success in any facet of dance they choose to pursue. A strong foundation in ballet not only enhances the other styles of dance, but also lays the bridge between the different genres so that a dancer can more easily flow between them.
It is so incredibly important for a dancer who is looking to get better to be taking ballet. Is it sometimes boring? Yes. Do you learn something new every class? No. Are you going to be challenged every class? Also no. Listen, we get it. It takes a certain type of dancer to really love every aspect of ballet. But that's the thing, just because it isn't something you love, doesn't mean you should stray away from it- especially when it is the thing that will guide you to success in the area of dance that you do love.
