The Significance of Muscular Strength in Dance

The physical demands placed on dancers make their physiology and fitness just as important as skill development. However, dancers' muscular strength and bone and joint integrity seem to suffer as a result of the dance-only selection and training system. This partly reflects the unfounded view that exercise training that is not directly related to dance would diminish dancers' aesthetic appearances and destroy muscle flexibility. Nevertheless, data on male and female dancers have demonstrated that supplemental strength training can lead to better dancing and reduced incidents of dance injuries without interfering with key artistic and aesthetic requirements. An awareness of these factors will assist dancers and their teachers in improving training techniques, employing more effective injury prevention program, and in determining better physical conditioning strategies. Professional dancers are normally involved in daily classes followed by several hours of rehearsal or stage performances. Demanding timetables can also be found in most dance schools. Such conditions, however, are also associated with sport, which perhaps led the former Artistic Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sir Peter Wright, to introduce the term "performing athlete" for his dancers. Sir Peter was among the first to recognize that as the physical demands placed on today's dancers continue to grow, their physiology and fitness becomes just as important as skill development. Although differences do exist between one dance form and another and between dance and other forms of athletic activity, it is the similarities between sport and dance that are the focus of this article. As in sport, dance performance is a rather complex phenomenon depending on a large number of elements.' At the professional level, dancers must be experts in the aesthetic and technical side of the art and psychologically prepared to handle critical situations and, to do so, they must be free of injury. Tbey must also be physically "fit." Physical fitness may be defined as the individuals' ability to meet the demands of a specific physical task. In dance, fitness incorporates elements of body composition,^'^ joint mobility,'* and cardiorespiratory fitness.^''' Dance fitness also depends on the dancer's caYiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., is in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Thessaly University, Trikala, Greece, and the School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, Wolverhampton University, England. Antonis Stavropoulos-Kalinoglou, M.Sc, and Giorgos Metsios, M.Sc, are in the School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, Wolverhampton University, England. Correspondence: Yiannis Koutedakis, Ph.D., Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Thessaly University, 42100 Trikala, Greece. pacity to develop high levels of muscle tension (i.e., on muscular strength).'''^ Nevertheless, research has revealed that certain forms of dance elicit limited stimuli for fitness enhancement' '" and that dancers, in general, are not physically as well conditioned as equivalent athletes,'^ particularly with respect to strength.'^'' In dance, strength training has not been generally considered necessary for a successful career. This partly reflects the tentative view that increased muscular strength would diminish dancers' aesthetic appearances. Anotber such view, shared by sections of tbe dance profession, is that strength and strength training would negatively affect muscle flexibility, the development of wbich is a long and demanding process. It is, therefore, not surprising that relatively little published data exist that are directly relevant to dancers' strength and its training. The aim of this brief review is to discuss relevant information from botb dance and sport, to discuss the signiftcance of strength for tbe dance student and professional dancer, and to correct some ofthe misunderstandings around strength training. The bodyconditioning techniques of Pilates, Alexander, and Feldenkrais will not be discussed as they have generally attracted little scientific attention.'^ However, a brief introduction to skeletal muscle physiology is necessary, as muscle is the basis of all