Physical and mental workloads in professional dance teachers

Area of Science:

• Dance pedagogy
• Occupational health
• Sports science

Background:

• Professional dance teachers face significant physical and mental demands.
• Understanding these workloads is essential for teacher well-being and career longevity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the levels of mental and physical workloads experienced by professional dance teachers.
• To examine how student age, technical level, and dance style influence these workloads.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 133 professional dance pedagogues.
• Online questionnaire survey assessing self-perceived physical and mental workloads during dance instruction.

Main Results:

• Dance teachers reported workloads nearly as high as their students.
• Workloads varied by dance style, student age, and technical level.
• Over 60% believed their job positively impacted health (self-realization, musculoskeletal, social), yet 58.6% feared musculoskeletal injury.
• Financial insecurity was a concern for 50.4% of teachers.

Conclusions:

• Physical and mental workloads are significant factors in dance teaching.
• Strategies for managing and preventing these loads are vital for a healthy, long-term career.
• Further research should explore clinical measures of physical and mental load in dance educators.