Development, Reliability, and Validity of a Multistage Dance Specific Aerobic Fitness Test (DAFT)

The aim of this study was to design a multistage dance-specific aerobic field-test that would indicate whether a dancer had the cardiorespiratory capabilities to cope with the demands of dance class and performance. The test consisted of five progressively demanding dance sequences. The technical level of each stage was kept as simple as possible to reduce the effect of economy of movement so that the emphasis of the test was physiologically based rather than skill orientated. The reliability of the stage workloads was measured via oxygen uptake and heart rate using a tele-metric gas analyzer. After an initial familiarization trial, subjects (n = 56: 24 males and 32 females) undertook the test twice within 48 hours. The results showed significant differences in oxygen requirement and heart rates between stages (F 4, 172 = 803.522; p < 0.001) and gender (p < 0.01). The HR-VO<inf>2</inf> relationship for the test was r = 0.94; n = 3336; p < 0.001 and the SEE was ± 4.506. Reliability of the DAFT was calculated by determining the coefficient of variation (CV) expressed as a percentage and the percentage change in the mean between trials (\% mean). CV ranged between 1.4 and 6.0 and \% Amean between 0.2 and 6.3 for the stages. The use of dance specific moves and specific levels of the test equating to the mean oxygen demands of class and performance confirmed that logical validity had been achieved. Possible applications to the dance world are the monitoring of heart rate at each of the stages during the year; setting of a target stage attainment for an individuals readiness to undertake class or performance after injury and/or, setting specific aerobic capabilities for dancers post-holiday or for guest artists (below a specific mean heart rate during a designated stage).