Upper body posture in Latin American dancers: a quantitative cross-sectional study comparing different postures

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics of dance
• Sports science
• Human movement analysis

Background:

• Latin American dance (LD) places significant stress on the shoulder girdle and torso.
• Understanding the biomechanical demands of LD is crucial for dancer health and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify differences in upper body postures specific to Latin American dance.
• To investigate gender-specific variations in these dance postures.

Main Methods:

• 3D back scans of 49 dancers (28 female, 21 male) were analyzed.
• Five trunk positions were compared: habitual standing and four dance-specific postures (P1-P5).
• Statistical analysis included Man-Whitney U, Friedmann, Conover-Iman tests, and Bonferroni-Holm correction.

Main Results:

• Significant gender differences were observed in postures P2, P3, and P4.
• Posture P5 showed significant differences in frontal trunk decline, axis deviation, rotation standard deviation, kyphosis angle, and shoulder/pelvic rotation.
• Both male and female dancers exhibited significant differences across postures P1-P5 in various spinal and pelvic parameters.

Conclusions:

• Latin American dance significantly impacts the static parameters of the upper body.
• This study provides foundational insights into the biomechanics of LD.
• Further research is recommended to comprehensively analyze the field of dance biomechanics.