Effect of a 12-Week Greek Traditional Dances Program on the Development of Kinesthesis and Dynamic Balance in School-aged Children

Eirini Argiriadou,Argirios Mavrovouniotis,Fotios Mavrovouniotis

doi:10.22158/jecs.v2n1p46

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of a Greek traditional dances program on the development of kinesthesis and dynamic balance in school-aged children. For this purpose seventeen children, six boys and eleven girls, pupils of elementary school, with their age ranged from 6 to 10 years, took part in the study. All the children received a 12-week program of Greek traditional dances at a frequency of one lesson per week, for 90 minutes. Data collection included pretest and posttest measurements of the kinesthesis and dynamic balance for all the children. Kinesthesis was measured by the kinesthesiometer (Lafayette Instrument Co.) and dynamic balance was measured by the stabilometer platform (Lafayette Instrument Co.). For data analysis, descriptive analysis and the non-parametric tests Wilcoxon of the SPSS ver. 18.0 for windows were used. The level of significance was set to p&lt;0.05. The results showed that after the 12-weeks program of Greek traditional dances there was a significant improvement in the kinesthesis (z=-3.01, p&lt;0.01) and the dynamic balance ability (z=-3.29, p&lt;0.01) of the children. In conclusion, a program with Greek traditional dances with music accompaniment, could lead to significant improvements in children’s abilities, kinesthesis and balance.

Highlights

Kinesthesis is the sensory perception of movement
The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of a 12-week Greek traditional dances program on the development of kinesthesis and dynamic balance in school-aged children
The Greek traditional dances sessions and the kinesthesis and dynamic balance measurements were executed without problems at the indoor hall of the dancing club, an environment especially organized for Greek traditional dances performance

Summary

Introduction

Kinesthesis is the sensory perception of movement. Kinesthesis happens when the brain gets feedback from muscles and ligaments about how the body is moving (Gabbard, 2004; https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/kinesthetic). Within kinesthetic perception are five sub-categories of perception/awareness. They include body awareness, spatial awareness, directional awareness, vestibular awareness and rhythmic awareness. The kinesthetic perception is the ability to determine the body postures and its parts in space, the power required for the muscles to be shrunk, control of direction and distance required during performance (Baumgartner & Jackson, 1995). Kinesthetic awareness is the ability to perform movements without thinking of the pattern due to proprioception feedback (Lewis, 2016), even in the absence of vision

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