THE EFFECTS OF THE CONTEMPORARY DANCE ON THE PHYSICAL ABILITIES AND BODY BALANCE ON THE 6-9 YEAR-OLD GIRLS: PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Abstract. Introduction. Contemporary dance, with influences from ballet and gymnastics, is an appealing and effective way of practising physical drills in an entertaining way. Objective. The aim of the study was to verify the effect of a 4 week contemporary dance training programme and of some measuring tools as well as the analysis of the entertainment contemporary dance on the motor skills and body balance of the 6-9 year old children. Materials and Methods. The subjects were 16 girls of 6-9 years of age (M=7, STDEV=1,06) who attended contemporary dance training sessions twice a week for a period of 4 weeks. The level of the motor skills was evaluated through standing broad jump (SBJ), back saver sit & reach with alternatively reached legs (S&R_RL – right leg reached, S&R_LL – left leg reached), Matorin test (MatT), crunches (C). The balance was measured standing on both legs (SBL) and on one leg (SOL) on Wii Balance Board fromNintendo (WBB), connected to SeeSway, Ross Clark software . The resulting data were analysed with the SPSS programme. Results. There have been identified statistically significant differences between the initial and final measurements when testing the motor skills and improvements in the balance parameters between the two evaluations, but these differences have not been statistically significant for any of the parameters measured. Conclusions. The study shows that a 4-week workout programme of entertainment contemporary dance may contribute to the development of motor skills. Also, the measuring tools are adequate and easy to use.