Frequency of Upper Body Muscular Demands in Contemporary and Ballet Dance Performance: A Cross Sectional Performance Analysis.

Introduction: There is currently little research relating specifically to the muscular strength and endurance requirements of the upper body such as lifts at varying heights, ground floor contact with the hands and inversions such as handstands. Enhanced understanding of muscular demands can inform...

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Publicado en:Journal of Dance Medicine & Science Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 237 - 246
Autores principales: Farmer, Claire, Brouner, James
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Dec2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2025
      vid: 29
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      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
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        atl: Frequency of Upper Body Muscular Demands in Contemporary and Ballet Dance Performance: A Cross Sectional Performance Analysis.
      aug:
        au:
          Farmer, Claire
          Brouner, James
        affil: School of Arts, Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, Middlesex University, London, UK
      sug:
        subj:
          Muscle Strength Evaluation
          Physical Endurance
          Ballet
          Torso Physiology
          Upper Extremity Physiology
          Motor Skills Evaluation
          Physical Performance Evaluation
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Sex Factors
          Human
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Male
          Female
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Convenience Sample
          Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test
          Weight-Bearing
          Comparative Studies
          Muscle Strengthening
          Quantitative Studies
          Nonparametric Statistics
          United Kingdom
          Data Analysis Software
          Descriptive Statistics
          kappa Statistic
          Intrarater Reliability
          Male
          Female
      ab: Introduction: There is currently little research relating specifically to the muscular strength and endurance requirements of the upper body such as lifts at varying heights, ground floor contact with the hands and inversions such as handstands. Enhanced understanding of muscular demands can inform training program design to build physical tolerance to meet the demand of the activity. The aim of this study was to ascertain the frequency of upper body muscular skills in contemporary and ballet dance performance. Methods: Analysis of 46 individual ballet performers (F = 23, M = 23) from 12 performances (duration 63.5 ± 44.5 minutes) and 44 individual contemporary performers (F = 21, M = 23) from 12 performances (duration 35.7 ± 4.3 minutes) was carried out. Frequency of upper body skills was recorded using Dartfish Easytag-Note and converted to mean frequency per minute of total performance and per performance by genre and by sex. Differences in frequency between genre were analyzed via Mann–Whitney U. Phase two analyzed differences between sex via Mann–Whitney U. Finally, analysis of differences between sex within dance genre was carried out via Wilcoxon signed rank test. Significance was accepted at P <.05. Results: A significant difference was apparent between ballet and contemporary dance for holding own weight (P <.05) with a greater total mean frequency within contemporary performances of 8.50 ± 9.03 compared to a total mean frequency of 1.51 ± 3.13 within ballet performances. Additionally, there was a significant difference for above shoulder assisted lift (P <.05) when comparing male dancers, with male contemporary dancers carrying out significantly more (9.82 ± 8.56) per performance than male ballet dancers (2.33 ± 4.66). A higher mean frequency of below shoulder lifts than above shoulder lifts was also noted, with the majority of above shoulder lifts remaining at eye level. Conclusion: Training programs must prepare dancers for upper body movements that consider differing biomechanical demands of a variety of lifts and inversions.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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