Balance and proprioception in dancers has frequently been studied. To add to the existing knowledge, this study set out to compare lower-limb proprioceptive awareness and postural control of professional ballet dancers to matched controls with no dance training. The researchers examined joint position reproduction at the ankle, knee, and hip in both groups and found that dancers demonstrated significantly better awareness of their joint positioning (and reproduction of this positioning) than the controls. Additionally, the dancers’ proprioceptive awareness of specific joint positioning was equal among all three joints whereas controls had significantly less awareness of their ankle position compared to their awareness of the hip and knee. In addition to examining joint reposition sense, the researchers also took center of pressure excursion and path measurements during an eyes-closed bipedal stance task. The results related to this portion of the examination did not indicate a difference between dancers and non-dancer controls. It is possible that this task, like other simple, non-specific tasks examined in previous studies, is not difficult enough to require the dancers to utilize any enhanced postural control mechanisms they may have as compared to the control group.
Other key points for clinicians from the authors include:
- Dancers may be more sensitive to proprioceptive information than non-dancers
- Dancers may be better able to use proprioceptive information to sense and reproduce body positioning, as compared to non-dancers
- Following injury, restoration of the injured body part’s proprioceptive sensitivity during rehabilitation (as near to pre-injury levels as possible) is critical. Failure to do so may contribute to chronic joint instability and subsequent injuries.
Kiefer AW, Riley MA, et al. Lower-limb proprioceptive awareness in professional ballet dancers. J Dance Med Sci. 2013:17(3):126-32.
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