Fascia Thickness and Mechanical Demand at the Ankle Joint during Dance Jumps in Classically Trained Ballet Dancers

Ballet is an athletic activity that combines aesthetics and artistry with power and ­­­­­skill. One of the most athletic aspects of dance is observed during jumps. Many jumps in ballet involve takeoff from a single leg, but differ in propulsion direction. To assess differences in mechanical demand, two single leg jumps commonly trained in ballet were compared; a saut de chat (SDC) and a temp levé from a step (SLSJ). Fifteen female classically trained dancers with similar number of years of training (13.9 ± 5.0 years) were instrumented with lower body reflective markers and performed each jump three times on a force plate. The marker position data and ground reaction forces (GRF) were captured synchronously at 250 hz and 100 hz, respectively, using a Vicon motion capture system. Peak vertical GRF, average rate of force development (RFD), peak ankle moment and peak ankle power were measured and averaged across trials. Paired t-tests were used to determine differences between the SDC and the SLSJ. When compared to the SLSJ, the SDC displayed significantly higher peak vertical GRF (p = .003), RFD (p = .002), and peak ankle moment and power (p \u3c .001). Analysis of effect size for these differences revealed a large effect size for all variables (Cohen’s d \u3e .80). In conclusion, results of this study indicate the mechanical demand of different dance jumps is diverse, which has implications for performance enhancement, injury prevention, and rehabilitation