A Biomechanical Analysis of Lower Extremity Segment dur ing the Fouette en dehors Performed by Ballet Dancers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the biomechanical variables of Fouette turns for expert and beginner ballet dancers and to determine the difference in the variables between the two groups. sixteen female ballet dancers participated in this study.They were divided into an expert group(age, 25.38 ± 1.92 years; height, 168.38 ± 4.66 cm; mass, 49.63 ± 4.41 kg) and a beginner group(age, 20.88 ± 1.13 years; height, 161.63 ± 7.42 cm; mass, 48.88 ± 3.64 kg) depending on their ballet experience. Descriptive data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) for all variables including the duration, displacement of the center of the body, velocity of the center of the body, angle of the body segments, angular velocity of the body segments, ground reaction force, lower extremity torque, muscle activity, body weight, age, and body mass. An independence t-test was conducted to determine how the following variables differed between the beginners and experts: duration, displacement of the center of the body, velocity of the center of the body, angle of the body segments, angular velocity of the body segments, ground reaction force, lower extremity torque, and muscle activity. All comparisons were made at the p<0.05 significance level. The results show that the experts scored high on the biomechanical variables, although all the variables were not significant. Significant differences were found in the angle of body segments, angular velocity of the body segments, lower extremity torque, and muscle activity(p<0.05). The findings of this study demonstrate that the experts have the required skill to make an improved Fouette turn. The findings may also help ballet dancers to learn and understand the Fouette turn.

Analysis of Postural Stability in Response to External Perturbation Intensity in Dancers and Non-dancers

“…This indicates that most of the studies on the stability of dancers have been conducted under static conditions. Meanwhile, studies on the dynamic posture of dancers have examined changes in CoM during an arabesque turn motion with and without use of the upper extremities (Park & Kim, 2009) and analyzed lower extremity segments during the Fouette' turn (Lee & Oh, 2012). Another study reported that greater vestibular equilibrium would be associated with rotational motion training (Park & Lim, 2008).…”

The Immediate Effects of Ankle Restriction Using an Elastic Band on Ground Reaction Force during a Golf Swing

“…If GRF is not utilized properly, people cannot move safely and purposely. When a beginner ballerina pirouettes, they simply spin their bodies without efficiently (Prisk & O'Loughilin, 2008) using vertical force in order to spin, but when an expert pirouettes, they push off of the ground vertically in order to keep themselves spinning for longer (Lee & Oh, 2012;Orendurff, Schoen, Bernatz, Klute, & Glaister, 2008) rather than solely spinning on the balls of their feet. This is an example of utilizing ground reaction force.…”