University of Wolverhampton Dance Science research:

Areas of research interest include:

• The stability and cushioning characteristics of different jazz shoes
• The development of novel dance shoes and clothing
• Development of dance specific field tests
• Movement analysis within dance performance
• Posterior ankle pain during pointe is related to posterior malleolus downward slope and/or superior calcaneal tuberosity prominence
• Classical ballet dancers have bony variations that cause pain during dance; these are increased with more years of participation in dance
• Radiographically measured ankle range-of-motion is less than clinically measured range-of-motion and is less still than the angle demarcated by the tibial shaft, center of the talocrural joint, and the tip of the first distal phalanx
• When en pointe the anterior joint space is wider than the posterior joint space secondary to a fulcrum created by the posterior malleolus and posterior talus and/or calcaneus
• In most pointe dancers the posterior tibial plafond articulates with non-articular surfaces on the posterior talus and calcaneus
• Posterior distraction of the ankle joint occurs during demiplié secondary to anterior talotibial impingement creating an anterior fulcrum
• In vitro ligament tension can be measured directly using an innovative fibre optic instrumentation technique
• Associations between dance performance and selected fitness parameters
• Associations between dance performance and selected fitness parameters
• Do increases in selected fitness parameters affect dance performance?
• Does physical fitness affect rate of injury in dance dancers?
• Effect of fatigue on dance movement
• Are dancers genetically different from normal and athletic populations

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