Comparação do equilíbrio corporal e da função muscular de plantiflexores entre bailarinas que utilizam e que não utilizam sapatilhas de ponta

Abstract

Introduction: The Classical Ballet brings a lot of benefits to their practioners, once it requires extreme concentration, dedication and persistance to learn the movements and well-elaborated steps characteristics of this artistic technique. However, it is sill necessary to estabilish more knowledge about the effects and the influence of using pointe shoes. Objective: To verify the postural balance and plantiflexor muscle fuction between classical ballet dancers wearing and not wearing pointe shoes. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative study which contains a convenience sample composed by young ballerinas that participate in Classical Ballet Dance schools in Uruguaiana-RS, Brazil. The project was previously registered with the ethics committee of the Federal University of Pampa – UNIPAMPA by the protocol number 1.504.462. Body balance evaluation was performed through computerized dynamic posturograph by the Sensory Organization Test, Motor Control Test and Unipodal Support Test. The analysis of plantiflexor muscle strength was performed using the Isokinetic Dynamometer Biodex System 4 Pro. Results: The research had the participation of 44 girls, 28 were classical ballet dancers and 16 were non-ballet dancers. The mean age was 12,67±2,31 for the ballerinas and 12,81±2,22 for the non-ballerinas. Among the classical ballerinas, 19 wear pointe shoes and 9 don’t used pointe shoes. The mean age for these groups were 13,52±2,31 and 10,88±0,78, respectively. It was observed throught the evaluations performance that dancers showed significant superiority at body balance, especially at unipodal support on the right foot with closed eyes, when compared to non-ballet girls. In the comparison between the ballerinas, the group which wear pointe shoes showed better performance in several body balance conditions compared to those which dont wear pointe shoes. What concerns about plantiflexors muscular function, the results showed more significance when compared ballerinas with non-ballerinas than ballerinas who wear and don’t wear pointe shoes, demonstrating higher values for the ballet practitioners group. This was observed at the isokinetic dynamometer in 30o/s, 60o/s and 120o/s speeds evaluation. Conclusion: This reserach showed that ballerinas tend to have a better body balance than non-ballet practioners, especially at dificult situations that require a greater body control, such as single-leg support and closed eyes. It was also observed that ballerinas that wear pointe shoes shows an improvement at thei balance performance when compared to those who don’t wear it. Dancers also had a better performance at muscle function assesment, showing a better total work at 30o/s, 60o/s and 120o/s speeds, especially on the right leg compared to non-ballerinas. However, the comparision between ballerinas that wear point shoes and dont wear pointe shoes, the data were not significant, also because all ballerinas shows good plantiflexion muscle control due to the required dance characteristics regardless of the type of ballet shoes.