Avaliação das capacidades físicas de praticantes de ballet clássico e ballet fitness

Abstract

Classical ballet is an ancient art which, in general, has been growing for the last years, not for artistic reasons, but as a form of physical activity. In recent years, a variation of this practice, known as ballet fitness, which associates ballet exercises with strength training, has been created. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the physical abilities of classical ballet and fitness ballet practitioners. The study performed cardiovascular evaluations, flexibility and body composition analyses. A significant increase in arm, chest and hip circumferences of fitness dancers was observed in relation to classical dancers’ measures. Classical dancers presented higher flexibility than ballet fitness dancers, but this difference was not statistically significant. The cardiovascular evaluations presented very close values in both modalities, which suggests that both classic ballet and fitness do not generate cardiovascular adaptations. However, more studies are needed to better characterize these parameters.