The Cardiorespiratory Responses to Modern Dance Classes: Differences between University, Graduate, and Professional Classes

The physiological profiles of university, graduate, and professional dance classes were monitored to examine differences in oxygen uptake, heart rate, and the work to rest ratio. Twenty seven dancers participated in the study (10 university students, 7 graduate performers, and 10 fulltime professional dancers). Each dancer wore a telemetric gas analyser for the duration of their class and was filmed for later analysis. There were no significant differences between the groups' mean values for oxygen uptake (university dancers 16.8 ml•kg^-1•min^-1, graduates 20.4 ml•kg^-1•min^-1, and professional dancers 18.3 ml•kg^-1•min^-1) or heart rates (university dancers 118 b•min^-1, graduates 133 b•min^-1, and professional 111 b•min^-1). There was a significant difference between warm-up and center work phases in both oxygen uptake and heart rate. Time spent dancing during the warm-up (76%) was significantly greater than during the center phases (41%) for all groups. Caloric expenditure of class ranged between 3.32 to 10.39 kcal•min^-1. These results are similar to previous research performed with classical ballet dancers. In conclusion, modern class is an intermittent exercise form with the center phase reaching high intensity levels and the work to rest ratios dependent on dancers level of training and size of class.