In January, an article came out in Dance Magazine about a study on the top 20 most physically demanding jobs and surprisingly (or not, especially for those of us who are currently or have been in it), dance took the number one spot. Yes, you read that correctly, dance is NUMBER ONE on the studies list.

As a former dancer, I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am and how validating it feels to know that.

Not only does being a dancer take all the things mentioned in the study such as strength, stamina, flexibility, and coordination, but it takes time, dedication, passion, and most importantly hard work. You could be the best dancer in the world (something that I personally was nowhere even close to being) but without hard work it means nothing.

Growing up, sometimes, whenever I mentioned that I danced (and that it was fairly serious), people just dismissed it as something that a little girl does for a little while and then quits to move on to something better. Yes, this is probably, most definitely, the case for some (e.g. the ones who say it, especially if they danced themselves), but that doesn't mean that it is the same for everyone. I mean come on! Have they even seen the ballets like the Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Swan Lake or Cinderella? All the main and core dancers are full-bodied adults. Where do they think those dancers come from?

On the other side of that, there are the ones that say "oh yeah I did that for a while, but then I stopped." And you're just left there like ok cool.

And guess what? As for athletes and other sports competitors? Yeah, they came in third place. So, I guess when we, as dancers, say we work just as hard as other athletes, it is more than true, according to the data.

To figure out the rankings, the group that did the study (InsuranceProviders.com), analyzed information given to them by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), an organization created through the support of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration.

Dancers have always known they have had a demanding job but now so does everyone else.

Some of the other most physically demanding jobs included: manufactured building and home installers, structural iron and steelworkers, roofers, and firefighters.