Multi-segmental postural coordination in professional ballet dancers

• Published in: Gait & posture Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 76 - 80
• Main Authors: Kiefer, Adam W, Riley, Michael A, Shockley, Kevin, Sitton, Candace A, Hewett, Timothy E, Cummins-Sebree, Sarah, Haas, Jacqui G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 01.05.2011
• Subjects: Ankle Joint - physiology; Arthrometry, Articular - instrumentation; Ballet; Coordination; Cross-recurrence quantification analysis; Dancing - physiology; Female; Hip Joint - physiology; Humans; Male; Orthopedics; Postural Balance - physiology; Postural control; Psychomotor Performance; Relative phase; Young Adult; Relative phase; Cross-recurrence quantification analysis; Coordination; Postural control; Ballet
• ISSN: 0966-6362; 1879-2219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2011.03.016

Abstract Ballet dancers have heightened balance skills, but previous studies that compared dancers to non-dancers have not quantified patterns of multi-joint postural coordination. This study utilized a visual tracking task that required professional ballet dancers and untrained control participants to sway with the fore–aft motion of a target while standing on one leg, at target frequencies of 0.2 and 0.6 Hz. The mean and variability of relative phase between the ankle and hip, and measures from cross-recurrence quantification analysis (i.e., percent cross-recurrence, percent cross-determinism, and cross-maxline), indexed the coordination patterns and their stability. Dancers exhibited less variable ankle–hip coordination and a less deterministic ankle–hip coupling, compared to controls. The results indicate that ballet dancers have increased coordination stability, potentially achieved through enhanced neuromuscular control and/or perceptual sensitivity, and indicate proficiency at optimizing the constraints that enable dancers to perform complex balance tasks.