Tapping into fatigue: A mixed methods exploration of the effects of fatigue on tap dancers / Megan Drabant (2022)

Research on tap dance within the field of dance science is extremely limited. The current limited scope of tap dance research includes topics on biomechanics, physiology, injury prevalence, and temporal deviations, however to date, no research has explored fatigue within tap dance. This study aimed to fill that gap by exploring the effects of fatigue on tap dancers through a convergent parallel mixed methods design. Qualitative and quantitative studies were independently conducted and then compared in an overall convergent discussion with the goal of providing a more holistic view on fatigue experiences in tap dance. The qualitative study thematically analyzed participants’ (N=10) semi-structured interview responses, identifying one overarching theme as fatigue inducing factors with five main themes as steps, duration of time, speed, flooring, and shoes. Additional subthemes were also identified to provide deeper context within each main theme. The quantitative study collected sEMG and 3D kinematic data from six participants to test how fatigue affected muscle activation, wing timing, and lateral displacement of wings in pre and postfatigue conditions. Results indicated increased muscle activation of the tibialis anterior and soleus and decreased muscle activation of the gastrocnemius and peroneal longus in the postfatigued condition. Lateral displacement indicated greater displacement with more consistency in the prefatigued condition and less displacement with less consistency in the postfatigued condition, while analysis of wing time found no difference in conditions. Comparative convergent interpretation concluded high similarities between the five identified fatigue inducing factors and the results of biomechanical outputs, therefore suggesting that these findings may help tap dancers approach future self-practice, class, rehearsal, and performance settings with a greater understanding of how fatigue affects tap dance performance.