Dan Merchlewitz, a safety on the SJU football team, learns how to dance in a class at the Benedicta Arts Center of the College of Saint Benedict.

Inspiring Classes

A chance to dance

By Jennifer Richter, CSB '10

Football players and modern dance are worlds apart; after all, football players are generally big and tough, while dancers are small and more demure.

But some Saint John’s University football players are changing that perception. For the past few years, they have been twirling and spinning in the Benedicta Arts Center of the College of Saint Benedict.

Football players are taking dance courses for many reasons.

“I chose to take the dance class because I had heard that it was a fun class and that it would also meet the core requirement for the fine arts,” junior Brett Saladin said.

A psychology major and sports medicine minor from Woodstock, Ill., Saladin is a tight end on the football team. In the fall of 2006, he enrolled in “Introduction to Modern Dance,” a class that allows students to explore movement fundamentals for the purpose of developing and strengthening individual creativity and artistic expression in dance. It allows any student, not just football players, to learn how to analyze movement and move more organically and gracefully.

Saladin’s feelings about the class have changed since he first started.

“I was nervous at first to be dancing and making a fool out of myself around strangers,” he said. “It was difficult to open up at the beginning of the course. However, with time, those feelings subsided, and I now feel more comfortable in what I am doing in the class.”

Leigh Dillard, adjunct professor of dance for CSB/SJU, teaches the class and thinks athletes are drawn to dance for many reasons and can learn a lot from taking courses in it.

“They learn different exercises that are helpful for stretching, releasing tension, and strengthening that they don’t do in their normal workouts,” Dillard said. “They learn to work more efficiently. They learn to pay attention to what their bodies are telling them (which is helpful in preventing injuries).”

Besides just learning more about themselves, Dillard believes there are other reasons why so many football players take the class.

“Some take it to meet girls!” Dillard said. “They also take the class for increased flexibility, coordination, and relaxation for stress relief. But most take it for their fine arts requirement having heard from classmates that it’s a fun class.”

Brett Saladin and Dan Merchlewitz, SJU football players, practice their routine for their final dance performance.

And many of her students would agree.

“The main thing that I liked about this class was how much fun it was. It is nice to be moving around during the day,” said junior Dan Merchlewitz, a safety on the football team who took the same class as Saladin.

Merchlewitz, a psychology and sports medicine student from Winona, Minn., feels his modern dance class has also helped him a lot on the field.

“It has improved both my balance and my flexibility,” he said. “I have noticed that as class has gone on over the semester both of those two areas improved a great deal.”

Saladin also had a similar experience. However, not only does he see an improvement in his balance and flexibility, but also in his concentration, a skill vital to playing football.

“In order for me to complete the numerous dance steps that we do in class, I need to be focused on what I am doing, and I need to raise my concentration level in order to accomplish those steps,” he said.

This course has benefited the players in many other areas, too.

“I feel that this class has helped me in my perception of the arts,” Saladin said. “I didn’t really know or understand much of anything about the arts before taking this class.”

And he has developed his awareness a great deal.

“Since taking it, it has really opened up my eyes to what the arts focus really is,” Saladin said. “I now know that the arts focus more on the individual and how one is able to express themselves in different ways through areas such as dance, art and theater.”

Leigh Dillard (center), adjunct instructor of dance for CSB/SJU, discusses dancing with Dan Merchlewitz and Brett Saladin.

Dillard agrees.

“I know they have a greater appreciation for professional dancers and how hard dancing is,” she said. “I think they begin to understand how movement is expressive and how they can express themselves individually in their own styles.”

However, mixed reactions have surfaced in response to football players taking dance classes.

“Most of my friends just laugh at me and tell me to do some dances,” Merchlewitz said. “But all of the players seem to agree that it is probably one of the best classes to take here on campus.”

Saladin has also encountered similar responses.

“When I tell people that I am in a dance class, they immediately start laughing,” he said. “They think that it is hilarious for a big football player to be taking a dance class in college! But most think that it is great for me to broaden my horizons and to express myself in different ways.”

And once people get over the idea that football players, or even males, cannot or should not be in dance, stereotypes are broken down.

“The basics I teach apply for everyone who moves in any way,” Dillard said. “Most everyone is self-conscious and embarrassed about doing the movement in the beginning, but after a few weeks, they are more relaxed, laughing and encouraging each other. Many football players even go home and show their roommates what they’ve learned!”

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