Effects of Education Programs on Dance Sport Performance in Youth Dancers

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of education programs on dance performance in youth sports dancers. Fifty-four subjects (aged 9-11 years) volunteered to participate in a 12 wk education program and were randomly assigned to three groups. The experimental group one (EG-1) trained in Dance sport 2 d.wk(-1) and performed physical training (i.e. track and field athletics, games, relays, and rhythmic gymnastics) 1 d.wk(-1). Experimental group two (EG-2) trained in Dance sport 2 d.wk(-1) and performed aerobics and aerobic gymnastics exercises 1 d.wk(-1). The control group (CG) dancers developed their Dance sport-specific technical and tactical skills 3 d.wk(-1). Training occurred 3 d.wk(-1) for a total of 54 hours. The dancers' anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics, as well as Dance sport performances were measured pre and post-intervention. No significant differences were observed at baseline between the three groups, except stature in EG-2 (p > .005). At post-intervention, the supplemental education sessions improved Dance sport performance scores of EG-1 (p = .004, eta(2) = .673, P = .943) and EG-2 (p = .001, eta(2) = .778, P = .996) dance pair; no change was observed in Dance sport performance in CG-1 (p = .622, eta(2) = .032, P = .074). The application of Dance sport training combined with supplemental education improves development of Dance sport performance in youth sports dancers.