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Biomechanics

Biomechanics - Poster Session A

Poster E4 - Center of Mass Variations in Ballet Sauté Jumps: Heels Up vs. Heels Down

Thursday, October 24, 2024
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST
Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Introduction:  Ballet is a popular sport with over 30,000 professional dancers in the U.S.1 Among the several jumps that ballet dancers perform, the sauté involves jumping and landing with both feet. Different styles of dance exist, with jumps performed landing heels up (HU) or heels down (HD). Several studies have investigated sauté kinematics, but research on the center of mass (COM) is limited. Understanding COM displacement can improve jumping technique, as dancers should have limited mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) motion while jumping to maintain balance.2 We hypothesize dancers using their preferred technique will decrease ML and AP displacement and increase vertical displacement compared to the other style.

Materials and

Methods:  Fifteen dancers from the Oregon Ballet Theater’s summer intensive (ages 13-20 years, height 1.65 ± 0.06 m, training 11 ± 4 years, body mass 57.2 ± 7.7 kg) participated in this study. The University’s Institutional Review Board approved the research, and all participants provided written consent. Forty-four reflective markers were placed on each dancer before performing 15 sautés in front of a 10-camera system (OptiTrack, Corvallis, OR). Each dancer performed three trials with both HU and HD. Motion data was filtered using a 4th order Butterworth low-pass filter at a cutoff frequency 8 Hz. COM was calculated using anthropometric data from Winter.3 Dependent measures included COM vertical, AP, and ML displacement, calculated by subtracting minimum from maximum COM displacement per jump. Jump styles were compared using a one-way mixed model ANOVA conducted with significance set at p< 0.05.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Vertical displacement was significantly different between HU and HD (p < 0.001) while ML (p=0.257) and AP (p=0.541) displacement were not (Table 1). Although most participants (14 out of 15) were exclusively trained in the HD style, there appeared to be no indication of training style on ML or AP displacement with some participants having a larger ML and AP displacement with HU while others had larger displacements in HD. All subjects had a greater vertical displacement with HD. It’s worth noting that jump height calculated from force plate measurements for the same group of subjects found only 8 of the 15 subjects had a greater jump height with HD versus HU.4 This suggests a discrepancy in COM height and jump height, which may be explained by the COM moving lower as a protective adaptation to allow for a softer landing.2 Furthermore, subjects may have a larger vertical COM displacement with HD because of a subconscious routine in a more familiar style. Observationally, there was no noticeable difference in COM displacement compared to ballet training experience, but a statistical analysis could not be completed due to uneven and small sample sizes across levels. The differences in COM displacement were minimal between landing styles for the AP and ML directions, but noticeable in the vertical direction. This may be indicative of jump technique having little effect on a ballet dancer’s ability to maintain good postural control.2 Subsequent studies should include subjects of varying experience levels and investigate COM metrics across different jump styles.

Acknowledgements (Optional):  Funding provided by Shiley Grant for Faculty Research and Development.