The Footwork Step Technique in Flamenco Dancing

The Footwork Step Technique in Flamenco Dancing: A Case Study

A professional flamenco dancer will perform a ZAP 3 test, a sequence of single strikes of the feet performed continuously for 15 sec. Kinetic and kinematic studies will be recorded during the performance.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Kinematics; Injuries; Kinesics

Detailed Description

Flamenco is a highly emotional and sensitive dance, which is one of the most characteristic elements of Spanish culture. It is both physically and mentally demanding, with the emphasis on footwork technical execution and the aesthetic of arms and trunk movements. Years of training are necessary to achieve any level of proficiency as professional flamenco dancer.

Therefore proper execution of the movements minimize the risk of injury accompanying foot - ground contact which was reported by several studies. The most suffering parts of the dancer's body are the cervical and lumbar spine, knee and foot.

Despite the growing number of studies on flamenco dancing, there is a lack of investigations focused on understanding how does the flamenco dancer's body work to mitigate an injury risk. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the parameters related to this issue: vertical Ground Reaction Force, Centre of Mass displacements and knee joint kinematics of the supporting leg They will be registered and analyzed during footwork performance.

A female professional flamenco dancer will perform a footork test called ZAP-3. It is a sequence of single strikes of the feet performed continuously for 15 seconds as fast as possible. 3D lower extremity kinematic data is used to collected using a five-camera motion analysis system (Vicon; Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK). Kistler force platform will use to record the Ground reaction forces .

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Cádiz, Spain, E-11004
    • Alfonso Vargas-Macías

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Female profesional flamenco dancer

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Volunteer
• More than 15 years as proffesional flamenco dancer.
• More than 20 hours per week dancing flamenco

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not report any musculoskeletal or sub-acute injury prior to 12 months of the study.
• Not report any surgical intervention prior to 12 months of the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Other

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Wootwork step test ZAP-3	The participant has to perform ZAP 3 test, a sequence of single strikes of the feet performed continuously for 15 sec. The first footwork step is made with the ball of the Foot with the non supporting leg. The second footwork step that will be produced by dropping the heel on the floor and making an audible sound. It is called Heel Drop (HD). The other leg will perform the third footwork step striking only the heel on the floor. The fourth one is made with the other leg, the supporting leg, when the ball of the foot is planted, repeating a HD step footwork. The fifth one is made by the non supporting leg, tapping the tip of the toe on the floor behind the base of support. The last one step is also made with the other leg, the supporting leg, meantime the ball of the foot is planted the heel is dropped on the floor repeating a HD step footwork. Numbers of footwork steps performed will be recorded. A greater number of strokes are associated with a better result.	15 seconds
Centre of mass oscillations	During ZAP-3 test, Centre of mass oscillations will be registered. Three-dimensional lower extremity kinematic data are collected using a five-camera motion analysis system at a sampling rate of 120 Hz (Vicon; Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK). Body segments were defined according to the Golem model by means of 35 reflective markers attached to the head (4), trunk (4), pelvis (3), arms (7) and legs (5). Centre of mass oscillations will be measured in metres.	15 seconds
Knee joint angular changes	During ZAP-3 test, Centre of mass oscillations will be registered. Three-dimensional lower extremity kinematic data are collected using a five-camera motion analysis system at a sampling rate of 120 Hz (Vicon; Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK). Body segments were defined according to the Golem model by means of 35 reflective markers attached to the head (4), trunk (4), pelvis (3), arms (7) and legs (5). Knee joint angular changes in the sagittal plane will be registered in degrees.	15 seconds
Ground Reaction Forces	The vertical component of Ground Reaction Forces will be measured using Kistler force platform. The subject was asked to perform twice, in order to place both right and left foot on the force platform while performing footwork steps test ZAP-3. Ground Reaction Forces will be registered in degrees in newtons unit.	15 seconds

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Telethusa Centre for Flamenco Research
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Alfonso Vargas-Macías, PhD, Telethusa Centre for Flamenco Research

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Website of the Research Projet

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): October 24, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 9, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 15, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): November 18, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 18, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 15, 2019
• Last Verified: November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Professional Flamenco Dancer; Footwork step; Ground Reaction Force; Center of mass
• Other Study ID Numbers: 6777

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No