Dynamic Gait Stability and Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters During Overground Walking in Professional Ballet Dancers

Introduction: It has been recognized that practicing ballet could strengthen the leg muscles, improve balance, and reduce fall risk. However, few studies have investigated how ballet practice alters a person's gait pattern, and this knowledge gap could present a barrier to designing ballet-based training programs. This study examined dynamic gait stability and spatiotemporal gait parameters among professional ballet dancers during normal level overground walking. Methods: Twenty young adults were recruited: 10 ballet dancers (24.5 ± 4.9 years) and 10 age- and sex-matched non-dancers (22.6 ± 3.4 years). Participants walked on a 10 m linear walkway at their self-selected speed. Dynamic gait stability and common gait parameters (step length, step width, gait speed, and cadence) were determined from the collected kinematic data and compared between groups with a significance level of .05. Results: The results showed that both groups displayed comparable dynamic gait stability at touchdown (P = .140) and liftoff (P = .638). However, ballet dancers walked with a longer (P = .054), narrower (P = .009), and faster step (P = .014) at a marginally quicker speed (P = .063) than non-dancers. Conclusion: Our study suggests that young professional ballet dancers have different gait patterns, but similar dynamic gait stability compared to non-dancers. These findings not only provide insight into the mechanisms of dynamic stability control among young ballet dancers during gait but expand our understanding of the control of dynamic gait balance of human locomotion across a wide variety of populations and walking conditions.