Dance Activities Research Articles

Experience with women with fbromyalgia who practice zumba. Case reports

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Different types of exercises are being used for the treatment of fibromyalgia, such as aerobic, resistance, flexibility exercises and body awareness therapy, but there is strong evidence that the gold standard for the non-pharmacological treatment of this disease is the aerobic exercise. The objective of this study was to collect reports of patients with fibromyalgia who practiced three months of dance (Zumba) and had to stop dancing for three months due to the recess of the academic activity at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017. CASE REPORTS: This is a qualitative study about the experience of 16 women with fibromyalgia, who participated in Zumba class for three months in 2016. The reports were collected when they resumed their dance activities in March 2017. Therefore, the patients remained with no intervention for three months, during the academic recess. The patients wrote their reports on a sheet of paper, answering three questions. According to the reports, we noticed that Zumba brought several benefits for these patients, such as pain relief, improved sleep quality, self-esteem and physical performance. CONCLUSION: Based on patients’ reports we can conclude that Zumba, as a three-month intervention, produced positive effects in improving pain, functional capacity, and quality of life of women with fibromyalgia.

An Invention of Baton Dance? Exercise Regime on Obesity Diagnosis among Sedentary Adults

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the effect of a 12-weeks of Baton Dance™ exercise, an invention in the treatment of obesity diagnosis among overweight sedentary adults in higher learning organizations. Baton Dance™ exercise program is a combination of aerobic dance activity, circuit training, and interval training which improvise own body weight during the exercise program. It combines physical training that includes alternating of low and medium intensity which involves a physical conditioning training with medium volume and low resistant with a short rest time. Forty subjects between the ages of 25 to 55 years, have had a diagnosis as sedentary, were overweight and have a fitness score below the mean. Subjects were randomly assigned to a 12-week of either Baton Dance™ as a treatment group or an aerobics dance exercise as the control group. A pre-test-post-test control research design was utilized. Both groups met for 50 minutes, three times a week for a total of 36 sessions. Statistical analysis includes (group x time) paired t-test and independent sample t-test were used to determine between and within group mean differences. Results suggested that subjects in the Baton Dance™ exercise regime intervention experienced positive improvement in obesity diagnosis after 12 weeks of treatment within the group effect p < .05. Results for obesity diagnosis were, BMI (mean pre: 30.57, mean post: 29.24), PBF from (mean pre: 43.52, mean post: 43.00), WHR (mean pre: .928, mean post: .924), SMM (mean pre: 23.23, mean post: 23.32). Therefore, it was concluded that the intervention of Baton Dance™ exercise program had improved obesity diagnosis, and contributed to a positive findings among overweight sedentary adults in higher education organization.

Creative Dance-Based Communication Intervention for Children With Multiple Disabilities Including Sensory Impairment

Creative dance activities are inherently communicative, and research has demonstrated that they can provide effective contexts for children to learn communication skills. Children with sensory disabilities have many risk factors for significant delays in concept and communication development, and creative dance offers an avenue to help this group learn such skills through movement. This article describes how the BEST (Body, Energy, Space, and Time) creative dance framework can be used by educational teams including speech-language pathologists to teach concepts and communication to children and youth with multiple disabilities including sensory impairments. Discussed in the article are the BEST framework, the impact of sensory disabilities on the development of communication, accommodations and modifications that might be needed by children with sensory disabilities, and a description of an interdisciplinary university class that involved dance and special education students. Finally, the article provides three examples that demonstrate how communication and concepts can be taught through creative dance across various age groups.

Community music as folkbildning: A study of a Finnish Cultural Association in Sweden

Abstract This article explores the relationship between community music, folkbildning and music making in Sweden. This is exemplified by a case study of a Finnish association in contemporary Sweden. The article takes, as its point of departure, the specific question: what meaning do musical activities have for its participants in the context of a Finnish association in Sweden? Informants from the Finnish association consist of members of a senior dance group (65–80 years old) and a music group (50–65 years old). The fieldwork and methodological approach is inspired by the ethnographic tradition, and the methods of data collection involve qualitative semi-structured interviews in groups, as well as field notes. The findings reveal that dancing is the main activity in the association and through dance activities the participants (as adult beginners) started to play instruments within the association’s framework. This process promotes life-long musical learning and strengthened health. The participants’ migration experiences in combination with the musical activities in the association have an impact on their individual and collective identities, and their participation in a musical community develops a sense of purpose, empowerment and autonomy.

The Role of Participant Responsiveness on a Socio-Emotional Learning Program.

The present study set out to evaluate participant responsiveness, one of the main dimensions of implementation quality, in a Socio-Emotional Learning after-school program using Educational Dance activities, Experiencing Emotions, and also to understand its influence on program outcomes. The sample involved 98 middle-school Portuguese pupils, 53 of whom participated in the program and 45 in after-school control sessions. Outcome measures included pre-test and post-test questionnaires of pupils' socio-emotional skills, well-being and school engagement. A self-report item measured pupils' satisfaction at the end of the program, and a checklist measuring attendance and homework completion was filled in by the facilitator at each session of the program and control condition. Results revealed (1) high levels of pupils' satisfaction and attendance, and a medium-high level of homework completion towards the program; (2) that pupils' higher attendance rate in the program predicted higher results in the self-management (p = .04, d = .57; p = .003, d = .87) and social awareness (p = .04, d = .59) SEL domains, emotional (p = .02, d = .67) and psychological (p = .009, d = .76) well-being and school engagement (p = .04, d = .56); (3) that pupils' higher rate of homework completion in the program predicted higher results in the relationship skills SEL area (p = .04, d = .59) and in school engagement (p = .005, d = 1.50); (4) that pupils' from the control condition higher rates of homework completion also predicted better school engagement (p = .006, d = .88). Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Optimal control topology-based efficiency improvement of single-stage three level resonant AC/DC converters

In this paper, an optimal control topology for improving the efficiency of AC-DC three level single stage power factor correction (SSPFC) converter using artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is proposed. ABC algorithm is one among the renowned algorithms that utilises the cleverness of swarm bees and it imitates the food searching nature as well as the dancing activities of actual bee colonies. The ABC algorithm optimises the gain parameters based on the converter's output load voltage variations. From the attained gain parameters, the minimum load voltage variation has been achieved. By using the proposed method, the converter's switching component stresses, high circulating current, total harmonic distortion (THD) and low efficiency has been reduced. In addition, the proposed optimal control topology is dependent on the converter's input value as well as the load value changes and it maintains constant conversion efficiency with improved power factor. The proposed circuit is implemented in the MATLAB/Simulink platform and the effectiveness is analysed by comparing it with the conventional techniques. The comparison results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach and confirm its potential to solve the problem.

Verification Relationship among Need Satisfaction, Sociality and Peer Relation of Children Attending Dancing Activity

Verification Relationship among Need Satisfaction, Sociality and Peer Relation of Children Attending Dancing Activity

Do Continuous Rhythm Dance Activities of the Elderly Enable Anti-Aging?

Do Continuous Rhythm Dance Activities of the Elderly Enable Anti-Aging?

Cooperative Learning as a Preference of Adolescent Students: The Case of Dance Activities

There are a number of extracurricular activities, carried out in today junior high schools, which give priority to the interaction between individuals and groups. Dance-as an extracurricular, physical activity with educational characteristics and cooperative elements - is believed to develop social and cultural values, since it creates emotional bonds between the individual and the group. The fact that a learning method is preferred by students can influence their performance. The aim of the study is to investigate students’ preferences concerning cooperative or individual learning methods and the difficulties of group work. The sample of the study was made up of 289 students, at the age of 13. Three groups were created. The first group was constituted of adolescents who took up extracurricular dance activities organized by the state. The second group was constituted of adolescents participating in extracurricular dance activities organized by non profit private societies. The third group was made up of adolescents who did not take up any physical activity in their free time. The Greek version (Goudas, Magotsiou, & Hatzigeorgiadis, 2009) of the «Feelings towards Group Work Scale» (Cantwell & Andrews, 2002) was used. The results showed differences among all groups. The adolescents involving in private dance activity programs presented a higher preference in group learning methods than adolescents involving in state dance activity programs. This is probably due to the higher efficiency of the teachers working in the private sector. The group that did not involve in any extracurricular activity preferred the individual work method. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n3s1p478

Surgical Treatment of the Accessory Navicular (Os Tibiale Externum) in Dancers: A Retrospective Case Series.

This study is to draw attention to a relatively common anatomical anomaly and its possible operative treatment in dancers. The accessory navicular, or os tibiale externum, is an accessory bone on the medial side of the navicular of the foot at the insertion of the posterior tibial tendon (PTT). It can cause obvious hyperpronation, medial foot pain, and a limited and painful relevé in dancers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the operative treatment of the accessory navicular exclusively in dancers. Six dancers (10 feet) were treated in our clinic for a symptomatic accessory navicular Type II. Five of them (eight feet) underwent surgery, two unilaterally and three bilaterally (at the same time). All five had an excellent result at mean follow-up of 4.7 years, given that they fully resumed their professional dance activities without restriction, discomfort, or residual symptoms. One patient stopped dancing for unrelated reasons and became symptom free without further (surgical) treatment. Although no conclusions can be drawn from a retrospective case series and other treatment modalities were not considered, simple excision of a symptomatic accessory navicular Type II seems to be a good choice in dancers.

Adaptation to Damaging Dance and Repeated-Sprint Activity in Women.

Brown, MA, Howatson, G, Keane, KM, and Stevenson, EJ. Adaptation to damaging dance and repeated-sprint activity in women. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2574-2581, 2016-The repeated bout effect (RBE) refers to the prophylactic effect from damaging exercise after a single previous bout of exercise. There is a paucity of data examining the RBE in women, and investigations using exercise paradigms beyond isolated eccentric contractions are scarce. In light of the limited literature, this investigation aimed to determine whether 2 different sport-specific exercise bouts would elicit a RBE in women. Twenty-one female dancers (19 ± 1 years) completed either a dance-specific protocol (n = 10) or sport-specific repeated-sprint protocol (n = 11). Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), limb girths, creatine kinase (CK), countermovement jump height, reactive strength index, maximal voluntary contraction, and 30-meter sprint time were recorded before and 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours after exercise. An identical exercise bout was conducted approximately 4 weeks after the initial bout, during which time the subjects maintained habitual training and dietary behaviors. DOMS and 30-meter sprint time decreased after a second bout of both activities (p = 0.003; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.38 and p = 0.008; and (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.31, respectively). Circulating CK was also lower at 24, 48, and 72 hours after the second bout, independent of group (p = 0.010 and (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.23). Compared with the repeated-sprint protocol, the magnitude of change in DOMS was greater after a subsequent bout of the dance protocol (p = 0.010 and (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.19). These data are the first to demonstrate that dance and repeated-sprint activity resulting in muscle damage in women confers a protective effect against muscle damage after a subsequent bout.

Ballroom Dance: Linking Serious Leisure to Successful Aging.

This study explored ballroom dance as serious leisure and successful aging in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. Qualitative procedures were used to explore stories of ballroom dance and successful aging. Participants described positive successful aging and active leisure engagement. Three themes emerged from thematic analyses: (a) Ballroom Dance as Serious Leisure: Its Dimensions; (b) Ballroom Dance: Its Link to Successful Aging; (c) The Affinity: We Love to Dance!. The participants' ballroom dance revealed serious leisure characteristics in conjunction with their successful aging. They loved to dance, self-identified as ballroom dancers, and orchestrated their dance activities within its social world. Future research should examine the relation of successful aging to the social world of ballroom dance.

The Relation Between Participation Motives and Goal Orientation of Participants in Recreational Dance Activities

The aim of the study was to investigate: a) the participation motives of adults who take part in recreational dance activities, b) whether their demographic characteristics differentiate their participation motives and goal orientation and c) the relation between motivation and goal orientation. The study sample was 908 adult men and women, who participated in learning Greek dances. For the data collection, the method used was the Greek version (Patsiaouras, Keramida & Papanikolaou, 2004) of Participation Motivation Questionnaire (Gill, Gross & Huddleston, 1983) and the Greek version (Diggelidis & Papaioannou, 2002) of “Personal Orientation” questionnaire (TEOSQ: Task & Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire) (Duda & Whitehead, 1998). Considering the results of the research, the emerging conclusions are: a) the factors “fitness”, “abilities-skills” and “friendship” constitute the most important motives for participating in dance activities. b) gender, age, educational level and dancing experience become partly differentiating factors for participation motives c. among the recreational dance activities, Greek dances form a natural activity in which the participants are both internally and externally motivated. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3p302

Development of a system for observing dance activities in the classroom environment (SODANCE)

This study sought to develop a system for observing dance activities in the classroom environment (SODANCE) based on the system for observing fitness instructional time (SOFIT). SODANCE utilizes direct observation to quantify the physical activity intensity of dance activities. Female students aged 11–17 years participated in an activity protocol of SOFIT and common dance activities to identify appropriate coding categories. Each student wore a heart rate monitor and accelerometer while performing the following activities: lying, sitting, standing, walking, running, single-leg balances, leg swings, pirouettes, and leaps. Ultimately, heart rate reserve output was determined to be the best assessment, followed by accelerometry-based vector magnitude output, and expert opinion. Chi squared tests were used to determine if there were significant differences in the proportion of subjects whose heart rate reserve data classified the activity as light vs. moderate vs. vigorous. In conclusion, the dance activities were coded as follows: single-leg balances = 4, leg swings = 4, pirouettes = 5, and leaps = 5. The developed SODANCE instrument may be used by researchers and practitioners to assess physical activity intensity during dance classes in the public schools.

Chiqui-traca-ban-tau: Movements and Creativity Expression without Limits

Chiqui-traca-ban-tau is a creative dance activity that can be enjoyed by a wide range of children. It is also a game that provides teachers with a physical activity option that promotes higher-order thinking and remembering skills necessary to support learning in the Common Core. The game involves each child taking a turn leading a four-beat movement of his or her choice. Each child then copies the movement and the next child takes a turn. As children take turns the movements are added to the sequence, and each child repeats the movements in the order in which they were presented. The game culminates with each child's movement in sequence and all using the phrase Chiqui-traca-ban-tau to help them remember the four-beat rhythm. Extensions of the activity include adding equipment, movement concepts, or having students use four beats with two different movements. Activity extensions are aligned with the cognitive taxonomy to facilitate learning.

Do Not Cross the Line—Dance as Political Protest in Christopher Winkler'sThe True Face

This paper discusses how the relationship of dance and political activity plays out in Christopher Winkler's 2013 choreographyThe True Face: Dance Is Not Enough(in German,Das Wahre Gesicht: Dance Is Not Enough), which won the Faust Preise award in choreography for 2014. Contrasting this kind of choreographed movement in proscenium space with André Lepecki's (2006) argument about stillness as protesting modernity's imperative to move, I ask, what is the political engagement of this dance, the subject of which is political dance or at least corporeal actions in politicized settings? This relates in particular to the role of locality (localization) in a work meant for the global marketplace of art dance and hence, the possible effect of performance in the local political scene. What goes unquestioned and is taken for granted in this series of representations of political protests in a work that asks, what is the capacity of dance to protest?

"Look MA, I'M A Star!"-Exploring Contestant's Participation in Tamil Reality Television

Reality television (RTV) is the latest obsession in Indian television entertainment programming. It has emerged as a new form of amusement for audience with a whole new notion including unscripted dramatic or humorous situations with vibrant performances and featuring ordinary people instead of professionals or celebrities. The growing popularity among audience to watch such programmes in regional lingo has tremendously influenced the talented youngsters to contest in reality talent hunt shows (RTHS), it is a sub genre of RTV; it features various contestants performing talents of singing, dancing, acting or other activities to showcase their skills in a televised-challenge environment to win a title or reward or prize money; in some cases for all of the aforesaid. Academic studies on RTV in western countries are as old as the medium. While recently, Indian RTV has been a point of discussion among media researchers; but has done little investigation on it. Almost no academic research is written or published on Tamil RTV and its contestants, despite the reputation, fame and chance to get into mainstream film industry is high. In this context, this paper examines Tamil RTHS contestant's motives to participate in such programme and understanding of the RTHS phenomena, of making an ordinary person to a ‘star ’on the show and the post-show life. A total of twelve contestants across Tamil Nadu, who competed in singing and dance based Tamil talent hunt shows were interviewed in focus group discussion using in-person interview. The paper argues that the RTHS is crucial in moulding a talent and to ‘do your best'performance along with the audience voting participation to create ‘attention ’and turn-on a ‘performer ’to a ‘star ’.

Senior Dance Experience, Cognitive Performance, and Brain Volume in Older Women.

Physical activity is positively related to cognitive functioning and brain volume in older adults. Interestingly, different types of physical activity vary in their effects on cognition and on the brain. For example, dancing has become an interesting topic in aging research, as it is a popular leisure activity among older adults, involving cardiovascular and motor fitness dimensions that can be positively related to cognition. However, studies on brain structure are missing. In this study, we tested the association of long-term senior dance experience with cognitive performance and gray matter brain volume in older women aged 65 to 82 years. We compared nonprofessional senior dancers (n = 28) with nonsedentary control group participants without any dancing experience (n = 29), who were similar in age, education, IQ score, lifestyle and health factors, and fitness level. Differences neither in the four tested cognitive domains (executive control, perceptual speed, episodic memory, and long-term memory) nor in brain volume (VBM whole-brain analysis, region-of-interest analysis of the hippocampus) were observed. Results indicate that moderate dancing activity (1-2 times per week, on average) has no additional effects on gray matter volume and cognitive functioning when a certain lifestyle or physical activity and fitness level are reached.

The effects of the creative dance on the analysis of fugue

Fugue form which can be acknowledged as peak point of polyphonic notation perceptivity is one of the most important of fugal forms. It can be thought that the analysis of fugue is tougher than the analysis of other musical forms. Thus, it is considered that creative dance which forms the basis of “Play, Dance and Music” course would provide benefit on fugue analysis. In this context, problem sentence of study is: Is there a positive effect of creative dance on the analysis of fugue? This study has been carried out in the 2014- 2015 education year on the fourthyear Music Education 12 major students in the Department of Education of Fine Arts and in Dokuz Eylul University, Buca Faculty of Education. The pretest-posttest model has been utilized. The research data has been analysed with the Mann-Whitney U Test.The results of the research have shown that creative dancing activities have a meaningful effect on the analysis of fugue (p<0.05).

Effects of Aerobic Dance on Cardiovascular Level and Body Weight among Women

Aerobic dance has becoming a popular mode of exercise especially among women due to its fun nature. With a catchy music background and joyful dance steps, aerobic dancers would be able to have fun while sweating out. Depending on its level of aggressiveness, aerobic may also improve and maintain cardiorespiratory fitness other than being a great tool for weight loss. This study intends to prove that aerobic dance activity can bring the same, if not better impacts on health than other types of cardiovascular exercise such as jogging and cycling. The objective of this study was to evaluate and identify the effect of six weeks aerobic dance on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss among women. This study, which was held in Seremban Fit Challenge, used a quasiexperimental design. The subjects selected include a total of 14 women (n = 14) with age (32.4 years old ± 9.1), weight (65.93 kg ± 11.24) and height (165.36 ± 3.46) who joined the Seremban Fit Challenge Season 13. The subjects were asked to join an aerobic dance class with a duration of one hour for six weeks in a row. As for the outcome, cardiovascular fitness was measured with a 1-mile run test while any changes on weight were measured using the weighing scale. The result showed that there was a significant difference between pre and post-test for cardiovascular fitness when p = 0.02 < 0.05 and weight loss when p = 0.00 < 0.05. In conclusion, a six-week long aerobic dance program would have a positive effect on cardiovascular fitness and weight. Therefore, aerobic dance may be used as an alternative for people who wish to lead a healthy lifestyle in a fun way. Keywords—Aerobic dance, cardiovascular fitness, weight loss,