Ballet training could learn from football and rugby, says research

A new study from the Universities of Bath and Bristol suggests current practices for grouping and evaluating young dancers in ballet could be counterproductive. The researchers found the present system potentially places late maturing girls at a significant disadvantage during important phases of their development, and at greater risk of injury. The results of the study, published in the Journal of Adolescence , point to a new approach to training known as 'bio-banding' - which groups individuals by their biological rather than chronological age and is growing in prominence for other sports including football and rugby. The researchers stressed the pivotal role of the teacher at this time, and how the provision of further education for dance teachers regarding the implications of puberty upon dance training may be helpful. Dancers in vocational training are grouped by age. They can begin full-time training from as young as 11, and often train up to six days a week. Girls of the same age do, however, vary greatly in biological age with some maturing in advance or delay of others.