Recreational older ballet dancers adapt faster to repeated standing-slips than older non-dancers

Falls are a global health concern facing older adults. Ballet emphasizes postural control, coordination, and leg muscle strength. Previous work indicated young professional ballet dancers adapt more effectively to repeated standing-slips than non-dancers as evidenced by better reactive improvements in dynamic gait stability and step latency. However, it remains unknown if older ballet dancers would show a quicker motor learning process than non-dancers. This study tested how older recreational ballet dancers adapt to five repeated standing-slip perturbations compared to non-dancers.

Twenty older recreational dancers and 23 age- and sex-matched non-dancers experienced five unexpected slips while standing on a treadmill. The primary outcome was the slip-faller rate. Secondary outcomes included the percent change from first to last slip in kinematic measurements: dynamic gait stability, recovery stepping (step latency, duration, length), and trunk angle.

Dancers showed a faster reduction in the slip-faller rate from the first to last standing-slip compared to the non-dancers (p = 0.004). The dancers improved dynamic gait stability at the recovery step touchdown more than the non-dancers (p = 0.002). The dancers increased their step duration (p = 0.006) more than the non-dancers across the five standing-slips, and dancers exhibited better improvement in trunk angle at recovery touchdown (p = 0.028).

Older ballet dancers adapt faster to repeated standing-slips and can improve their slip-faller rate more quickly compared to non-dancers. Dancers also improve their step duration and trunk angle as related to balance loss recovery, which may be attributed to their ballet practice.