The Significance of Muscular Strength in Dance

Abstract

The physical demands placed on dancers make their physiology and fitness just as important as skill development. However, dancers’ muscular strength and bone and joint integrity seem to suffer as a result of the dance-only selection and training system. This partly reflects the unfounded view that exercise training that is not directly related to dance would diminish dancers’ aesthetic appearances and destroy muscle flexibility. Nevertheless, data on male and female dancers have demonstrated that supplemental strength training can lead to better dancing and reduced incidents of dance injuries without interfering with key artistic and aesthetic requirements. An awareness of these factors will assist dancers and their teachers in improving training techniques, employing more effective injury prevention program, and in determining better physical conditioning strategies.