Awareness and perceptions of hypermobility in adolescent dancers: A resource based educational intervention and evaluation / Beth Ackroyd (2020)

Hypermobility allows dancers to perform movements requiring extreme range of motion. Whilst hypermobility is common amongst younger dancers, there is limited research surrounding hypermobility in adolescent dancers. Additionally, to the authors knowledge there are no pre-existing resources aimed to educate adolescent dancers on how to manage and train with hypermobility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness and perceptions of hypermobility among a group of adolescent dancers with an additional focus on evaluating the use of educational based resources on hypermobility and surrounding topics. A qualitative research design was utilised, using an action research approach and a 4-week educational intervention with pre and post-intervention questionnaires. 22 hypermobile adolescent dancers (mean age 14.7 ± 2.2) with a minimum of 2 years dance experience and a Beighton score ≥5 participated in the study. Qualitative analysis of the weekly reflections during the intervention and analysis of questionnaire responses, showed participants increased their understanding and awareness of hypermobility. Furthermore, analysis indicated a positive change in participants idealistic training schedules and components post-intervention. Overall, the participants found the resources to be enjoyable and interesting. The intervention provided participants with a sense of autonomy and control over their learning and training. The resources acknowledged the importance of adolescent dancers gaining an increased understanding of the concept of hypermobility and their individual body’s needs. The research led to the creation of hypermobility resources for adolescent dancers, with the desire for further distribution. Findings from this research raise the question of what awareness and perceptions dance teachers have about hypermobility, as they are fundamentally important in the instruction of impressionable young dancers. Further research would be beneficial to assess whether the participants adopt long term changes to their training. Future research should consider more reliable ways to assess hypermobility virtually, since due to the Covid-19 pandemic all areas of this study were conducted online.