Science of Dance Training.

Science of Dance Training The editors of this book attempted to assemble "all of what is objectively known concerning medical, scientific and behavioral aspects of dance training." The 16 chapters are written by authorities in sports medicine and dance from numerous colleges, universities, hospitals, and clinics. Physical therapists would find a lot of new and useful information here, amid much well-organized basic information.

The book is composed of four sections: perspectives in dance medicine and science, scientific aspects of dance training, medical aspects of dance training, and behavioral and pedagogical aspects of dance training.

The first section covers the dancer's need for specialized care and the improvements that have been made in the field in the past decade. The lack of scientific research is addressed, and suggestions for future research topics are included. The chapter on energy production in dance provides a review of muscle structure, contraction, and aerobic and anaerobic exercise. The chapter on biomechanics of dance provides an overview of the language of biomechanics and includes brief descriptions of several movement studies of dance techniques that have been conducted.

Particularly relevant to the physical therapist are the two chapters on common dance injuries and their treatment and the two fascinating chapters on psychomotor research and motor learning applications to technique class. These latter two chapters raise some important points about maximizing the use of instructional cues and selecting appropriate warm-up activities that will transfer to later performance. They also present research findings on the bilateral transfer of motor skills and the long-term memory and recall of movement sequences.

Also of special interest is the excellent chapter on principles of dance training, which covers training variables such as duration, frequency, intensity, specificity of training, coordination, flexibility, and strength training as they relate to the dancer. This chapter also covers injury prevention and class format.

Other chapters address a range of topics, including body-composition characteristics of female ballet dancers, cardiovascular aspects of dance, menstrual effects of dance training, and psychological aspects of dance. The broad scope of this book makes it an ideal text for dance educators and a valuable resource for all physical therapy practitioners and medical professionals who work with dancers.