A Physiologic Profile Comparing Levels and Styles of Female Dancers

Abstract

In brief: A physiologic profile comparing 39 female dancers was undertaken to better understand the factors distinguishing four levels and styles of dance: professional ballet (PB), professional modern, university ballet, and university modern. The PB dancers had significantly lower VO2 max values on the tread-mill as well as lower peak blood lactate levels following the Wingate test for anaerobic capacity than the other dancers. The PB dancers also had a significantly higher isokinetic hamstring-quadriceps ratio than the modern dancers. These findings suggest that physiologic capacity may differ among female dancers according to their levels and styles of dance.

Fitness in Contemporary Dance: A Systematic Review

“…In all these aforementioned studies, the total number of dance students derived from both ballet and modern dance training. In other studies, however, which indeed separated the dance students into ballet and contemporary, no signifi cant diff erences were found either in % BF or FFM between these two dance styles [13,50] . Signifi cant lower % BF values were instead found in professional contemporary dancers compared to beginner dance students [12] .…”

“…Non signifi cant diff erences were also detected in anaerobic mean power between adolescent dance students compared to either recreational dancers or non-dancers [38] . Signifi cant diff erences were instead depicted in post exercise blood lactate levels, where professional contemporary dancers exhibited higher values than their ballet counterparts [13] . By investigating the eff ects of supplementary exercise training on jumping ability and dance performance [11,25] , these recent studies form the only known examples where aspects of fi tness and contemporary dance performance were simultaneously considered.…”

“…One study revealed that VO 2max was higher in students undertaking ballet and modern dance as majors, compared to other dance combinations in a vocational institution [15] . Moreover, ballet and contemporary dance students did not demonstrate signifi cant diff erences in cardiorespiratory fi tness [50] , while professional contemporary dancers exhibited signifi cant higher values of VO 2max than their ballet counterparts [13] . In comparison to non-dancers, it was found that the VO 2max values of intermediate and advanced dancers ' was signifi cantly increased.…”

“…Moreover, muscular strength and power of knee and ankle in both intermediate and / or advanced dance students has been found to be not signifi cantly diff erent between them or when compared to sedentary individuals [12] . No signifi cant diff erences were observed in the quadriceps and hamstring peak torque between ballet and contemporary dance students and professionals [13] ; however, in comparison to ballet, contemporary dancers reported higher scores in muscular endurance but lower compared to folk dancers [44] . Finally, it was found [27] that the knee extensor and fl exor muscle peak power of female professional contemporary dancers was 151.0 ± 26.0 and 63.0 ± 11.0 Nm at 1.04 rad / sec while at 4.19 rad / sec the equivalent values were 83.0 ± 11.0 and 60.0 ± 8.4 Nm.…”

Evaluation of aerobic capacity and energy expenditure in folk dancers

“…Previously published data on the levels of physical fitness of dancers and the physiological response during dancing focused mainly on modern and ballroom dancing, ballet, and aerobic dance workouts [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These studies found that the aerobic fitness level of dancers can be considered as average and characteristic of individuals practicing non-endurance sports [3,5,9,13]. These results may be due in part to the specific nature of the types of dance that were observed, whose movement sequences, although dynamic, can be considered short-lasting with energy provided by the phosphagen (ATP and phosphocreatine) and anaerobic (glycolytic) systems.…”