Research: A Preseason Cardiorespiratory Profile of Professional Dancers

Nine professional dance companies which regularly perform the post-hire, pre-season health screen for professional dancers (developed by the Dance/USA Task Force on Dancer Health) were examined for this study. Examining several indicators of physical fitness, the researchers sought to identify a cardiorespiratory fitness profile of professional dancers, look for differences in heart rate of modern and ballet dancers during and after a fitness test, and identify any genre- or company-specific variables that may be related to level of fitness among professional dancers.


Dancers performed an accelerated 3-minute step test. Resting heart rate was taken after 5 minutes of rest, peak heart rate was recorded at the 3-minute mark of the step test, and recovery heart rate was recorded 1 minute after completion of the step test. Using gender, age, and recovery heart rate, dancers were classified into a fitness category, according to YMCA guidelines. Dancers placed into the “Excellent,” “Good,” and “Above Average” categories were characterized as “fit.”

While a wealth of data and statistical results is presented in the article, the key findings were:

• Modern dancers had higher mass and BMI than ballet dancers.
• Modern dancers demonstrated lower blood pressures, lower resting heart rates, and lower recovery heart rates.
• A significantly higher percentage of modern dancers were identified as “fit” compared to the ballet dancer cohort.
• Smokers (14% of the dancers in this study: 2.5% of modern dancers, 18% of ballet dancers) had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure than non-smokers. Additionally, non-smokers were significantly more fit than smokers. While this likely is not surprising to medical professionals, it is important to understand that making the connection between smoking and a higher risk of heart-related problems during exercise and/or a lower level of fitness may not be as obvious to dancers. You may need to spell this out for your dancer patient or client looking to improve their fitness levels.
• There were no differences in recovery heart rate or fitness category between males and females.
• There were no differences in fitness category related to amount of dancing (work weeks per year, number of performances per year, and annual hours of exposure per dancer). Additionally, there were no correlations between fitness category and number of contract weeks or number of performances per year.

One ballet company and its second company, each examined in this study, emphasize and reward dancer participation in cross-training programs. These companies had the lowest peak heart rates, lowest recovery heart rates, and highest fitness categories across all companies. Unfortunately, the researchers did not gather data on off-season activities and cross-training frequency, so any possible effect that additional dancing or cross-training may have on improving cardiovascular fitness could not be identified in this study.



Bronner S, Ojofeitimi S, Bailey Lora J, et al. A preseason cardiorespiratory profile of dancers in nine professional ballet and modern companies. J Dance Med Sci. 2014:18(2):74-85