In aesthetic or visual activities, like Ballet and Dancing, subjective judging is a
measure of performance. As we know a dancer success may depend on the amount of
muscle relative to body mass, and the excess of fat is a disadvantage on ballet
performance. To study the body composition, body muscle and fat mass of ballet
dancers is very important to control their health and performance, due to the intensive
training of this artistic activity. The purpose was analyze the changes of the body
composition of dancers from the Cuban National Ballet School in different moments
of their physical training. A group of 27 female and 13 male adolescent ballet dancers
were measured every 3 months during a period of two years. Their ages ranged
between 15 and 19 years. An anthropometric protocol of 13 measurements was
applied in order to determine the body composition, body muscle and fat mass, using
the Ross and Kerr method. Results showed that males were always taller than females,
but both increased their median stature at least 2.0 cm during this period. The elite
group of female dancers changed their fat percent according to the intensity of training
periods, while average group didn�t do it. The male dancers show a linear tendency
for fat percent in a narrow interval. The variations of relative body muscle mass did
not depend on the intensive stage of training but males and females showed an
increase tendency, resulting on a median 3.0% higher at the end of this study.
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