Comparison of Postural Stability between Injured and Uninjured Ballet Dancers

Background: Ballet movements require a limited base of support; thus, ballet dancers require a high level of postural control. However, postural stability in ballet dancers is still unclear and needs to be understood.Purpose: To evaluate ballet dancers’ postural stability in performing single-leg standing, the en pointe task, and the first and fifth positions and to determine differences in task performance among healthy nondancers, healthy dancers, and dancers with ankle sprains.Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.Methods: Injured dancers, uninjured dancers, and nondancers were recruited for this study (N = 33 age-matched participants; n= 11 per group). The tasks tested were single-leg standing with eyes open and closed, first position, fifth position, and en pointe. Center of pressure parameters were calculated from the ground-reaction force collected with 1 force plate. Analysis of variance was used to assess the differences of center of pressure parameters among 3 groups in single-leg standing; ...