Summary of Morning Topic Presentation by Margaret Wilson

Dance Kinesiology Special Interest Group Meeting
International Association for Dance Medicine and Science Annual Meeting
Stockholm, Sweden
November 2005

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Biomechanics can help “close the gap between the reality of movement and our understanding of it”
(p. 3) Midgett, 1993

Early research in biomechanics

• Ryman (1976) Six grand allegro jumps
• Hinson (1978) Tour Jeté
• Ryman & Ranney (1979) Grand Battement
• Nichols (1979) Vertical alignment in plie
• Bannister (1979) Pelvic angle and low back pain
• Becker (1985) Landing from jumps

Beijjani (1986)

• Functional anatomy and kinematics, anatomic variation, musculoskeletal changes, flexibility and range of motion.
• Tested Flamenco dancers for strength (knee, back and ankle), and using transducers looked at foot pressure and lower extremity acceleration.
• Posture and Spine Control
• Postural adjustments in the spine and vertical orientation of the head and spine
• Mouchino, Aurenty, Massion, & Pedotti (1992)
• Monasterio (1996)
• Mouchino, Mesure, Lizee, Landjerit & Massion (1998)

Foot Pressure (pointe shoes)

• Teitz, Harrington and Wiley (1985)
• Werner (1988)
• Albers, Hu, McPoil and Cornwall (1992/93)
• Dozzi and Winters(1993)
• Cunningham (1998)
• Miller, Paulos, Parker and Fishell (1990)

.…technique shoes offer little advantage to the dancer for dealing with the demands of the art form.

Is the grand plie obsolete?

• Woodruff (1984)
• Clouser (1994)
• Trepman et al (1998)
• Barnes (2000)

….the results of the research conducted have confirmed its importance for developing strength in the dancer, but the frequency and schedule within the class remains a topic of discussion.

Electromyography

• Chatfield (1993)
• Chatfield, Barr, Woollacott and Sveistrup (1996)

….EMG data is useful in describing movement characteristics such as timing and preparation for movement.

Jumping

• Midgett (1993)
• Rasmussen (1993)
• Murgia (1995)
• Simpson et al (1996, 1997)
• Poggini (1997)
  
  Related Research
• Fiolkowski (1997) Friction and floor surface
• Lei (1992) Xi Tui Fan Shen
• George et al (1996) Current Concepts reformer
• Wilmerding (1998 & 2001) Standing leg
• Gamboian, Chatfield, Woollacott, Barr and Klug (1999, 2000) Somatic training and pelvis placement
  Lumbar Spine & Pelvis
• Feipel, Dalenne, Dugailly, Salvia and Rooze (2004)
• Wilson, Lim and Kwon (2004)
  
  
  Artistic value and biomechanical efficacy
  Without reducing skill to a numerical formula or graphed pattern, expert performance can clearly be seen and described within these fields.
  Observing variability within an individual dancer can reveal information regarding movement consistency and adaptability in performance (Chatfield, 2003).

Applying Biomechanical Principles to Dance

• Kenneth Laws: The Physics of Dance (1984 and 2002)
• Biomechanics of Barre Use (1985), Mechanics of the Fouette turn, (1986), Grand Jeté – an analysis (1989), Lifts in Partnered Dance (1991), The slowing of Pirouettes (1992), Momentum Transfer in Dance Movement (1998) and Momentum Transfer in Dance Movement – Vertical Jump (1999).
• Physics, Dance and the Pas de Deux (1994)

Biomechanic analysis has revealed efficient patterns for understanding of artistic performance for:

• Arabesque (Ahonen, 2004)
• Rond de jambe (Wilson, Lim and Kwon, 2004)
• Grand battement (Calvo 2004 and Iiacopini, 2004)
• Port de bras (Kuno-Mizumura, 2004).

“What can dance science contribute dancer’s training?”

• Pam Geber - dancers’ needs must be considered relative to the demands placed upon them.
• Dance science specialists should share their information in a user friendly way
• Donna Krasnow – integrate kinesiological information with motor learning concepts
  Dance Kinesiology Texts
  
  
  The first dance kinesiology text was published in 1988, however, the author credits the work of early dance educators with the “application of movement sciences to the field of dance”: some of these include:
• Mabel Todd, 1937
• Margaret H’Doubler, 1957
• Lulu Sweigard, 1974
• Raoul Gelabert, 1980
  Recent Authors
• Andrea Watkins and Pricilla Clarkson
• Andrea Olsen
• Fitt, 2nd edition
• Germain-Callas

Journals and Publications

The first periodical in dance science was the Kinesiology for Dance Newsletter, which was published from 1977 to 1989 and later developed into a journal, Kinesiology and Medicine for Dance which was published from 1989-1993.

Overview of important biomechanic principles in dance

Gravity:

• Effect on skeletal structure
• Balance
• Jumping and Landing
• Distribution of mass

Systems:

• Skeletal
• Muscular
• Nervous
• Endocrine/organ
• Cardiorespiratory

Associated areas:

• Exercise Physiology
• Motor Control
• Wellness
• Nutrition
• Psychology

Kinematic and Kinetic Variables:

• Kinematic: how fast, how far, how much
• Kinetic: Inertial properties: mass
• Force, energy, work and power
• Velocity, acceleration; impulse, impact
• Friction, floor surfaces

Types of motion

• Linear and Angular movements
• Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Inertia, acceleration, action/reaction
• Moment of inertia, conservation of angular momentum
• Torque and Leverage

Go to Bibliography

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