Plantar pressure distribution during high-heeled Latin dancing

Abstract

The impact of high-heeled shoes on the human gait kinetic is an important research field. Most published studies have been focused on the effects of high-heeled shoes on normal walking, while works on more intensive locomotion such as dancing is very limited. The purpose of this work was to investigate the foot pressure distribution, impact force and impulse during Latin dancing with different heel heights. Biomechanical measurements were performed for typical dance steps on six professional dance athletes. The load of each sole zone was calculated and the significance of the heel height effect was determined with statistical analysis. The results indicate that increasing heel height could cause an increase of impact forces in the forefoot and a reduction in the heel region. The effect of the heel height in dancing is different from normal gait and the lateral metatarsal region was identified as the most intensely affected zone in dancing.