Abstract:
Dancing is a part of human culture, and foot drills are exceptional among the
dancing skills. The interdisciplinary art form known as Bharatanatyam, which
mixes dance, rhythm, and expression, was created in the second century in the
South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The dancers practice leg exercises to achieve
their perfect Bharatanatyam Araimandi posture. This study aimed to determine a
better method to improve lower limb muscle strength of novice female students
aged from 14 to 16 through Bharatanatyam Tatta Adavus and specific exercises.
This study used a quasi-experimental research design under the quantitative
research method. Thirty female students who had never taken part in sports or
dance were picked at random. Thereafter, they were divided into three groups
each with 10 students as the dancing group, the particular exercises group, and the
control group. Moreover, a different 6-week intervention program was applied to
each treatment group (group 1: dance and group 2: specific exercises) except the
control group. The handheld dynamometer machine was used to measure lower
limb muscle strength at the pretest, midtest, and posttest. The two-way mixed
ANOVA repeated measurement analysis method and the Bonferroni pairwise
comparison procedures were applied to test the effect of the training program and
compare the group levels and the time with a 95% confidence level. The results
revealed that the dancing training group significantly improved their lower limb
muscle strength (p=0.030) over time. However, the specialized exercise group
(p=0.757) and the control group (p=0.860) have not significantly improved their
lower limb muscle strength. In conclusion, female novices' lower limb muscles
strength can be intensified with the Bharatanatyam Tatta Adavus.
