BACKGROUND: Ballet is a high-performance activity that requires an advanced level of technical skills. Ballet places great stress on tendons, muscles, bones, and joints and may act directly as a trigger of injury by overuse. OBJECTIVES: 1) to describe the main types of injuries and affected areas related to classical ballet and 2) to compare the frequency of musculoskeletal injuries among professional and non-professional ballet dancers, considering possible gender differences among the professional dancers. METHOD: A total of 110 questionnaires were answered by professional and non-professional dancers. The questionnaire contained items related to the presence of injury, the regions involved, and the mechanism of the injury. RESULTS: We observed a high frequency of musculoskeletal injuries, with ankle sprains accounting for 69.8% of injuries in professional dancers and 42.1% in non-professional dancers. Pirouettes were the most frequent mechanism of injury in professional dancers, accounting for 67.9% of injuries, whereas in the non-professional dancers, repetitive movement was the most common mechanism (28.1%). Ankle sprains occurred in 90% of the women's injuries, and muscle sprains occurred in 54.5% of the men's injuries. The most frequent injury location was the ankle joint in both sexes among the professional dancers, with 67.6% in women and 40.9% in men. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of the mechanism of injury and time of practice may contribute to better therapeutic action aimed at the proper function of the dancers' bodies and improved performance by these athletes.

Classical ballet involves the performance of complex movements that require high-level motor skills and good postural control. This study explored postural sway in passé en demi-pointe position in dancers and compared single-leg standing sway (with and without visual restriction) between dancers and non-dancers. Fourteen professional dancers and 14 sex- and age-matched volunteers who were not ballet dancers participated in the study. Participants stood on a force plate on the dominant leg in the following positions: 1. single-leg stance with eyes open (reference task) and with eyes closed and blindfolded for 35 seconds; and 2. passé en demi-pointe position with eyes open for 20 seconds (dancers only). The center of pressure signal was used to calculate the following variables: average velocity; anteroposterior and mediolateral velocity peaks; anteroposterior and mediolateral displacement ranges; average displacement; and ellipse area. Significant interaction effects (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.419) were observed between groups and postural tasks, with higher stabilometric values for the dancer group during the single-leg stance with eyes closed and blindfolded task, as evidenced by the average displacement of 241.0 cm in dancers and 147.1 cm in non-dancers (p = 0.025), and by the ellipse area of 9.5 cm2 for dancers and 4.9 cm2 for non-dancers (p = 0.001). In regard to the positions with eyes open, an increase was noted only in the average sway velocity and mediolateral velocity in passé en demi-pointe position compared with the single-leg stance with eyes open (p < 0.001). Greater postural sway might be interpreted as the result of either inadequate postural stability or exploratory behavior to maintain postural stability in more challenging tasks. It is concluded that professional ballet dancers show greater visual dependency for balance adjustment with reduced influence of the supporting base on postural sway.

CKCUES test kinematic and kinetic measures were not different among 3 conditions based on distance between hands. However, the test might not be suitable for initial or mild-level rehabilitation due to its challenging requirements.

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HTLV-1-associated myelopathy is a progressive disabling disease associated with gait abnormalities. Objective To identify and quantify the main muscles affected by weakness and spasticity, their impact on gait, functional capacity and on quality of life of HTLV-1-associated myelopathy patients. Method We evaluated lower limbs muscular strength according to the Medical Research Council scale, spasticity according to the modified Ashworth scale, daily activities according to the Barthel Index and quality of life according to the Short-Form Health Survey-36 of 26 HTLV-1-associated myelopathy patients. Results The muscles most affected by weakness included the dorsal flexors and knee flexors. Spasticity predominated in the hip adductor muscles and in plantar flexors. Assistance for locomotion, minimal dependence in daily activities, limitations in functional capacity and physical aspects were the most common findings. Conclusion The impairment of gait, functional dependence and quality of life were predominantly a consequence of intense muscle weakness in HTLV-1-associated myelopathy patients.