Vol. 2, Issue 1, Part A (2020)

Introduction: Surface hardness of the dance floor has been implicated as a cause of repetitive strain injuries.The study aims to determine the peak ground reaction forces(GRF) on three different surfaces Wood (WD), Granite (GR) and Rubberised Polyvinyl (PV) Flooring) while performing Bharatanatyam. Methods: Five pre professional dancers performed dance step [Tatta Adavu] and a jump over three different surfaces fixed over two identical force plates. The Peak GRF forces during the dance step from the right lower limb was acquired. Analysis was done with one-way ANOVA for three independent groups p-value (<0.05). Results: Among the five participants, the mean peak GRF while performing the dance step on WD, Gr, PV was 1.05 (+/- 0.03), 1.11(+/- 0.01) and 1.09(+/- 0.04) respectively. The mean GRF while performing the jump among the surfaces, WD, Gr, PV was 1.79(+/- 0.16), 1.72 (+/-0.12) and 1.92(+/-0.17) respectively. The GRF while performing the dance step and the jump were lower on WD than on other surfaces. However, the results obtained were not of statistical significance (p value >0.05). Conclusion: A non-resilient surface and an elastic surface both produce higher impact forces while performing dance steps. Hence, selecting an ideal surface for dance is imperative to avoid injuries.