In Pursuit of the Perfect Dancer’s Ballet Foot. The Footprint, Stabilometric, Pedobarographic Parameters of Professional Ballet Dancers

Abstract

This work aims to assess footprint parameters in a group of professional ballet dancers and to determine the correlation between the aforementioned parameters and lateralization, stabilometric parameters, pedobarographic parameters and work environment conditions. A group subjected to tests consisted of 44 elite professional ballet dancers and the reference group was composed of 44 students. The test of balance and thrust under feet involved 30 s-long free standing with open eyes on a podographic platform. The research-related analysis was concerned with footprint parameters (foot length and width, Clarke angle, and Weissflog index), stabilometric parameters (path length and ellipse field, mean value of the velocity and deflection of the displacement of the center of the foot pressure on the ground) and pedobarographic parameters (percentage thrust on the right, left foot as well as the front and rear part the foot). Statistically significant differences between the groups were observed in relation to the stabilometric parameters, the percentage pressure of the left forefoot and the right heel, as well as the value of the Clarke angle (p ≤ 0.05). The longitudinal arch of the foot and the width of the foot in ballet dancers are not dependent on the total and professional career duration and weekly training volume

Trend Change Analysis as a New Tool to Complement the Evaluation of Human Body Balance in the Time and Frequency Domains

“…Humans have numerous regulatory mechanisms responsible for keeping a vertical body posture, and irregularities in the functioning of these mechanisms often lead to locomotor disorders that can result in falls and injuries ( Błaszczyk et al, 2016 ; Gorwa et al, 2021 ; Hof et al, 2005 ). Understanding the causes of postural disorders and achieving proper diagnosis is therefore essential.…”

Ground reaction force as a factor responsible for the topography of injuries in professional dance. An analysis of three dance styles: classical dance, modern dance, and folk dance

“…According to most authors investigating dancers’ feet, the muscles responsible for the foot and ankle joint should be able to sustain appropriately high force to perform pointé-work ( 26 , 27 ). The introduction of pointé-work-related exercises before the dancer’s feet obtain their functional maturity weakens the feet and increases their susceptibility to injuries ( 27 ). Plantar flexion of 180º in relation to the central axis of the tibial bone and foot is a pre-condition of proper, entire, and safe pointé-work ( 26 , 27 ).…”

“…The introduction of pointé-work-related exercises before the dancer’s feet obtain their functional maturity weakens the feet and increases their susceptibility to injuries ( 27 ). Plantar flexion of 180º in relation to the central axis of the tibial bone and foot is a pre-condition of proper, entire, and safe pointé-work ( 26 , 27 ). However, the combination of high impact loads, defined as the level of maxGRF z (5.31–11.11 BW for the analyzed jumps), and weakness caused by the premature introduction of pointé-work in technical exercises of classical dance increase injury risk and leads to a high percentage of metatarsus (80%) and ankle joint (83.3%) injuries.…”

“…According to most authors investigating dancers' feet, the muscles responsible for the foot and ankle joint should be able to sustain appropriately high force to perform pointé-work (26,27). The introduction of Raising the heels during choreographically demanding elements of classical dance (relevé on pointé, demipointé relevé, and arabesque) or while folk dancing in high heels deepens lordosis and reduces lumbar spine mobility in the sagittal plane (32).…”

Investigation of the Relationship Between the Morphology of the Toe Flexor Muscles in Ballet Dancers and the Postural Stability During Standing on Demi-Pointe: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…5,6 Stabilometry has been a commonly used method to assess the static balance of dancers in previous studies. 5,7,8 Measuring the center of pressure (COP) has been shown to be a reproducible assessment for static balance. 9 In previous studies, dancers showed a small COP displacement with single-leg support on the force platform, which suggested that they had better balance ability than non-dancers.…”