A Comparison of Posture, Balance and Flexibility in Between Adolescent Ballet Dancers and Sedentary Individuals

A Comparison of Posture, Balance and Flexibility in Between Adolescent Ballet Dancers and Sedentary Individuals

Ballet dance are typical specific movement which require balance ability and postural control. Ballet dancers use specific balance exercises. It can be expected, that dancers have an advanced sense of awareness for the placement and motion of their bodies. The effect of ballet dancing on adolescents is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine whether ballet dance has an effect on balance, posture and flexibility in adolescents.

Ballet is as a superlative combination of art and sport that requires high demands musculoskeletal conditioning which works on the development of coordination, balance and associated with efficient strength and flexibility. Balance is a key skill for dance performance for dancers especially for ballet. Ballet dancers use specific balance exercises. It can be expected, that dancers have an advanced sense of awareness for the placement and motion of their bodies. The support surfaces are variable in ballet training, this may also be the reason dancers can better use the information from the somatosensory and vestibular systems. It could be assumed that the effect of ballet training will have a positive effect on postural stability in standing. Postural balance is the act of achieving, maintaining or restoring a state of balance during any posture or activity. It is still unclear whether balance, flexibility and posture in adolescent ballet dancers is different than sedentary adolescent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether there are differences in balance between adolescent ballet dancers and sedentary adolescent and if these differences are associated with the flexibility and posture. To compare the postural balance between both groups the unipedal standing was chosen, which reduces the quantity of useful and accurate somatosensory information available to the postural control system. Posture analysis and flexibility tests were performed in both groups to compare flexibility and posture on balance. We purpose to compare balance parameters, posture and health quality parameters in adolescent ballet dancers and sedentary adolescent groups.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being between the ages of 7-17 years
• Volunteer
• Does not have any cognitive, mental and psychological problems,
• Does not have any systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis,
• Does not have any neurological problems,
• Additionally, the criteria for the ballet dancers included more than 1 years of ballet experience, and for sedentary they included no experience in competitive sport or activity.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having severe neurological, visual and auditory problems that may prevent the application of assessment parameters
• Children and their families who cannot obtain written consent from their families.
• Having communication problems