Before our study of twenty female contemporary dancers, we hypothesized them to be more likely to have Pes Planus and less likely to have Hallux Valgus. After our observations of these advanced dancers, we found that sixty percent had Hallux Valgus. Of the twenty dancers, fifteen have been dancing for more than ten years. Out of the twelve dancers with Hallux Valgus, ten have been dancing for more than ten years.
Dancers: 20
With Hallux Valgus: 12
Dancing for more than 10 years with Hallux Valgus: 10
Dancing less than 10 years with Hallux Valgus: 2
Fifty percent of the dancers had Pes Planus, therefore, ten out of the twenty advanced dancers show this deviation. Of the ten with Pes Planus, eight had been dancing for more than ten years.
Dancers: 20
With Pes Planus: 10
Dancing for more than 10 years with Pes Planus: 8
Dancing less than 10 years with Pes Planus: 2
Therefore, four dancers had neither Hallux Valgus or Pes Planus. Six only had Hallux Valgus and four only had Pes Planus. The concluding six dancers had both deviations. From our observations, our hypothesis was proved incorrect for the reason that there were more dancers with Hallux Valgus than Pes Planus. Also, our percentages were not proved high enough to draw a concrete conclusion as to why these deviations occur. However, those who have danced a significant amount of time, have shown to have more prominent deviations. We question whether this could be a contributing factor and encouraged these dancers to see if either of the deviations ran in their family to conclude if they were hereditary. Along with hereditary tendencies, "anatomic alignment, poor training, technical errors, unfamiliar choreography or style, and environmental factors including flooring surfaces and theater temperature have been implicated as contributing factors to dance injuries"(Kadel).
