The present study investigated perfectionism prevalence and its relationship to imagery and performance anxiety. Two hundred and fifty (N= 250) elite students (66.4% female;Mage= 19.19,SD= 2.66) studying mainly classical ballet or contemporary dance in England, Canada, and Australia completed questionnaires assessing perfectionism, imagery, and performance anxiety. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct cohorts: dancers withperfectionistic tendencies(40.59% of the sample), dancers withmoderate perfectionistic tendencies(44.35%), and dancers withno perfectionistic tendencies(15.06%). Notably, these labels are data driven and relative; only eight dancers reported high absolute scores. Dancers with perfectionistic tendencies experienced more debilitative imagery, greater cognitive and somatic anxiety, and lower self-confidence than other dancers. Dancers with moderate perfectionistic tendencies reported midlevel scores for all constructs and experienced somatic anxiety as being more debilitative to performance than did those with no perfectionistic tendencies. Clusters were demographically similar, though more males than females reported no perfectionistic tendencies, and vice versa. In summary, the present findings suggest that “true” perfectionism may be rare in elite dance; however, elements of perfectionism appear common and are associated with maladaptive characteristics.
Muscle fibers can generally be divided into slow and fast twitch according to their contraction speed. Even though an individual normally has the same ratio of slow/fast muscle fibers throughout his or her body, the lower-limb muscles are predominantly designed to provide the maximum dynamic output in rapid movements (e.g., jumping). The limited data on dancers' muscle profiles have shown that (ballet) dancers have predominately slow fibers. Muscular strength, together with aerobic and anaerobic capacity, joint mobility and muscle flexibility, and body composition form the continuum of physical fitness. Strength is defined as the maximum force that a muscle group can generate at a specified velocity; its levels can be affected by several factors. which include age, gender, type of muscle fiber, nutrition, and body temperature. There is no scientific evidence suggesting that different strength training regimens should be employed for the different styles of dance. However, reduced muscular strength has been associated with greater severity of injury in dancers. Poor aerobic capabilities, high ectomorphy ratings with low percent body fat values, and the biomechanics of different dance techniques have also been identified as underlying sources of injury in dancers. The most common location for injury in ballet dancers is the foot and the ankle, while in contemporary dancers it is the low back and knee. Little information is available with respect to other dance styles.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.