Physiological Profile of Competitive Collegiate Dancers
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Authors
Hass, Natalie
Issue Date
2025-05
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Description/Abstract
Competitive dance is a significant part of collegiate athletics. However, competitive dancers are not often recognized as athletes. Recognition of dancers’ sports status may provide them with access to better resources, such as strength and conditioning and athletic training care. This descriptive study of fitness characteristics in collegiate female dancers compares them to athletes from other female-dominant sports. Eight female collegiate dance team members (age: 19.5 ± 1.31 years, dance experience: 15.25 ± 4.66 years, height: 64.5 +/- 1.19, weight: 146 +/- 14.69) at an NCAA division II university completed multiple fitness tests, including body composition, muscular strength and power, aerobic fitness, and flexibility. The fitness test results are as follows: body fat percent = 32.44 +/- 13.31%, grip strength of dominant hand = 26.69 +/- 3.18kg, non-dominant hand = 24.75 +/- 4.77kg, vertical jump = 38.64 +/- 3.92cm, VO2 max = 41.34 +/- 8.09ml·kg-1·min-1, and sit-and-reach = 34.94 +/- 6.38cm. These data indicate that competitive dancers are comparable to other women collegiate athletes in multiple physical fitness parameters. Overall, there is a disparity in the popularity of dance and the esteem in which it is held. Dancers deserve to be treated like athletes because they work as hard as other athletes in their sport.