BMI and flexibility in ballerinas of contemporary dance and classical ballet

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to verify the differences between fl exibility and body mass index (BMI) in contemporary dance and classical ballet ballerinas. Materials and Methods: The sample was of 22 ballet danc- ers of Thais Muller Studio Dance at Santa Maria city / RS, in the age bracket of 13 to 16 years, divided into 2 groups of 11 dancers, paired by age: contemporary dance practitioners and classical ballet practitioners. In the evaluation were the anthropometric data (stature, weight, lower limbs length measures) and the fl exibility indexes. The angular fl exibility was mea- sured through goniometric (fl exion, abduction and hip external rotation), and the linear, Sitting Reaching Box Weels, which evaluates the posterior muscle chain fl exibility. The BMI has been obtained by weight.stature -2 . Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), test of normality of the data and t test for independent samples were used for the data analysis. 5% of Signifi cance was used. Results: Despite all the ranges of motion were higher in the classical ballet practitioners group, only the abduction movement had statistically signifi cant differences between the two groups. There were no differences in the BMI. Discussion: The groups were similar concerning BMI, and classical ballet practitioners are more fl exible.