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Abstract

Footwear used by dancers often offers little support to the lower extremities. There have been efforts to design footwear aimed at decreasing incidence of injury and increasing dance performance. The interaction between the floor and the foot is heavily influenced by the choice of footwear, yet there has been little research done on the effects footwear has on dance performance. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of footwear on ground reaction forces and lower extremity kinematics and kinetics during a jeté landing. METHODS: Three-dimensional analysis was performed using a 12-camera video motion analysis system (Motion Analysis) and two force plates (Kistler). Fourteen healthy, experienced dancers performed five trials of jetés, a ballet leap where dancer’s weight is transferred from one leg to the other laterally. Randomized footwear conditions included barefoot, Apolla dance socks, regular socks, and Bloch Spin II dance shoes. The digital camera signals were processed and analyzed using Cortex software. Visual3D software (C-Motion, Inc.) was used to quantify ground reaction forces and hip, knee, and ankle peak joint angles and peak net joint moments. Results between footwear conditions were compared using repeated measures ANOVAs. RESULTS: There were also no differences in peak vertical ground reaction force between footwear conditions (𝛌(1,13)=0.648, p = 0.174). There was no main effect of footwear on peak lower extremity joint kinematics (𝛌(9,5)=0.490, p = 0.776). There was no main effect of footwear on peak lower extremity net joint moments (𝛌(9,5)=0.288, p = 0.381).CONCLUSION: Preliminary results from this study indicate that footwear does not affect jeté landings at the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Our prior research on sautés revealed significant differences in the extension of MTP joints with different use of footwear, therefore, future analyses examining joint kinetics at the MTP joints may allow for more evidence-based recommendations regarding footwear use in dancers. Further analysis of the present dataset in combination with analysis of more challenging dance movements may provide further insight regarding how dancers are affected by the choice of footwear.

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