Supplemental Physical Fitness Training Can Improve the Artistic Elements of Dance Performance

Copyright © 2012 International Association for Dance Medicine & Science • www.iadms.org Over the last 25 years the exercise sciences have studied dance from a biopsychosocial perspective rather than an artistic one. The early studies by Cohen et al and Schantz and Astrand1,2 noted that ballet had a greater emphasis on anaerobic fitness and that the dancers’ aerobic fitness levels were similar to sedentary or moderately trained individuals. Later research on contemporary dance appeared to tell a similar story, though contemporary dancers had slightly greater aerobic fitness.3 Dance UK’s two “Fit to Dance”reports4,5 also noted that dancers perceived fatigue as one of the main causes of injury, which should not be a surprise as the previously mentioned research on the cardiorespiratory demands of dance showed dancers performing at or near their maximum physical abilities. Dance is a high skill exercise form that requires a very high level of coordination and precision not really seen in sport, especially when exercising at these intensities. Generally, as the physical intensity increases, the ability to carry out intricate movements decreases. Dancers appear to be able circumvent this trend to a degree. This has a potentially negative consequence, in that a loss of alignment due to fatigue when exercising at these intensities can increase the chance of injury. The link between physical fitness and performance has been demonstrated in sport, where winners have been able to perform at a lower relative intensity than their rivals.6 The purpose of the present studies was to examine whether there was a similar relationship in dance, with dancers able to improve the artistic elements of dance performance by improving their underlying physical fitness—resulting in dancers having more “energy” to put towards the artistic elements of dance performance. The participants for all the studies were either in their final year of pre-professional training or professional dancers. It is very important to always examine who the participants were in research projects, as sedentary populations adapt differently than trained populations when interventions are imposed upon them. The underlying characteristics (fitness and anthropometric) may vary hugely and the adaptations seen in less skilled groups may not transfer to more skilled groups. The first study examined the physical demands of dance performance using video analysis. Video analysis provides a gross exploration of the underlying demands of dance performance with the basic categories of exercise intensity, discrete skills, and changes in direction. The exercise intensity category ranges from “rest” to “very hard” (where the participant is undergoing very hard work e.g. run pace, static holds above shoulder height, multiple high jumps landing on one leg). Discrete skills include activities such as lifts and jumps. Changes in direction focuses on acute changes in direction and movement to and from the floor. The data from 48 ballet and 45 contemporary performances indicated that the two genres are as significantly different in the underlying physical demands placed on their performers as the artistic aspects of the choreography.7,8 Ballet was characterised by longer periods at “rest” and at “high” to “very high” exercise intensities, while contemporary dance featured more continuous moderate exercise intensities. These differences have implications for the energy systems utilised during performance, with ballet potentially stressing the anaerobic system more than contemporary dance. Ballet also noted higher rates in discrete skills for jumps (5 jumps.min-1) and lifts (2 lifts.min-1) than contemporary dance. The next study examined the relationship between a wide range of physical fitness parameters and artistic ability. For the latter, each participant had to dance a set solo (ballet or contemporary), which was marked by two experienced dance examiners for each genre. The participants then underwent a battery of fitness tests including anthropometric (body fat, weight, height) measurements, aerobic fitness, power, muscular endurance and flexibility following the guidelines set out by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science.9 Within the limitations of the chosen solos, the physical fitness attributes that best predicted artistic competency in contemporary dance were upper body muscular endurance and lower body power (jumps)10; while in ballet, jump height and active Supplemental Physical Fitness Training Can Improve the Artistic Elements of Dance Performance