Dancers' Joint Strategies for Achieving Turnout in Low and High Friction Conditions.

BACKGROUND: Dancing with legs externally rotated (turnout) is a fundamental element of ballet technique. A reliance on floor friction to achieve turnout may contribute toward the high injury rate in dancers. Joint strategies used by dancers in high and low friction turnout conditions are not well understood. OBJECTIVES: To quantify the lower limb and lumbar spine joint strategies used by female pre-professional dancers to achieve turnout in low-friction (rotation discs) and high-friction (functional and forced) conditions. METHODS: Twenty-three pre-professional female dancers participated in the study. A 12-camera motion analysis system collected hip and knee external rotation (ER), ankle abduction, and lumbar extension angles in three turnout conditions and passive hip ER range of motion angles. Repeated measures ANOVA analysed the differences between joint angles, maximum turnout angle (foot relative to pelvis), and available hip ER. RESULTS: Dancers demonstrated lower knee ER (18.5±4.8°) and ankle abduction (6.0±7.7°) angles during low-friction turnout compared to higher friction conditions (p<0.05). Dancers utilised between 70-83% of available hip ER within all conditions. Low-friction turnout demonstrated greater hip ER contribution within maximum turnout (43%) compared to higher friction conditions. Dancers demonstrated greater lumbar extension angles in low-friction turnout compared to higher friction conditions (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Further hip ER strength training is required to promote greater hip ER range within the position. Rotation discs may be a valuable training tool as dancers demonstrated greater hip ER utilisation with less knee ER and ankle abduction; however, this position did promote undesirable lumbar extension.

Lower leg and foot contributions to turnout in female pre-professional dancers: A 3D kinematic analysis.

Turnout is a central element of classical ballet which involves sustained external rotation of the lower limbs during dance movements. Lower leg and foot compensation mechanisms which are often used to increase turnout have been attributed to the high incidence of lower limb injury in dancers. Evaluation of dancers' leg posture is needed to provide insight into the lower limb kinematic strategies used to achieve turnout. The primary purpose of this study was to use 3D kinematic analyses to determine the lower leg and foot compensations that are incorporated by female university dancers to accentuate their turnout. Active and passive external tibiofemoral rotation (TFR) was also measured. A moderate-strong negative relationship was observed between hip external rotation (HER) and foot abduction in the three first position conditions. A moderate negative relationship was found between passive TFR and foot abduction in all first position conditions. Our findings suggest dancers are more likely to pronate, than rotate the knee to compensate for limited HER. Dancers with a limited capacity to pronate may force additional rotation via the knee. Ongoing research would benefit from more in-depth analyses of the foot/ankle complex using a multi-segment foot model.