Bern University

Anna Schrefl 

Born in Austria, Anna studied contemporary dance at the Amsterdam University of the Arts and at Codarts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She holds a MAS in Dance Science from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and a MSc of Dance Science from the University of Wolverhampton. Anna worked as a freelance choreographer for various dance, theater, and music productions (1998-2015). She received her training as a Pilates instructor in New York and is a lecturer in Spiraldynamik^®, a concept of understanding functional anatomy. Anna has been working as a trainer for classical, contemporary, and musical dancers for over 20 years. She is currently a guest lecturer in anatomy and physiology at the dance department of the Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland, and an external doctoral student at the University of Bern.

PhD Project Description

In the past decades, dance science has focused on supplemental strength and endurance training to decrease injury rates in dancers and help them to enhance their performance. However, there is a lack of studies on strength and endurance exercises and evidence-based test protocols for the feet in the dance population. Anecdotal evidence shows that many dance teachers, health practitioners and doctors recommend dancers to do exercises to strengthen their feet as part of their rehabilitation program after an injury or to improve their ability to jump or to balance. These exercises are targeting the intrinsic (IFM) as well as the extrinsic foot musculature (EFM). The IFM originates and inserts on the foot itself, whereas the EFM originates on the lower or upper leg and then inserts on the foot. Little research has been conducted to provide the dance community with data on the role of the IFM and EFM in injury prevention and dance performance improvement, let alone to provide methodologically proven exercises and assessment tools.

The general aim of my research project is to investigate the role of IFM and EFM in dance and to examine test batteries targeting these muscle groups. The Single Leg Heel Rise (SLHR) test is a simple screening tool to assess muscular endurance of the calf musculature and is an increasingly popular manual muscle test in various areas of dance. Although the SLHR has shown high reliability in the medical field, no uniform description of this test exists in dance. Therefore, a specific aim of my research project is to evaluate the validity and reliability of the SLHR in dance, provide normative data of this test in ballet and contemporary dancers, and establish an evidence-based test protocol for this test.