Comparison Between the Passé and Coupé Positions in the Single Leg Turn Movement in a Brazilian Zouk Practitioner: A Pilot Study

There are different types of dance turns, such as pirouettes, fouettés, and single leg turns. Besides, these turns can be performed with different body positions and combinations. Therefore, this study aimed to compare displacement of the center of mass (CoM) of the body, head and thigh, and knee flexion of the gesture leg, between the positions of the coupé and passé legs during the Single Leg Turn of the Brazilian Zouk, in which the follower dancer performs a rotation along its longitudinal axis conducted by the leader dancer. The Single Leg Turn is an important movement in competitions and the location of the CoM is essential for maintaining the dynamic balance of the turn. The movement of a follower dancer was recorded by 18 cameras (Prime 13, 240 Hz), OptiTrack system, Motive software (version 1.10.0 Beta 1), for acquiring and digitizing trajectories of reflective markers. Datas were processed using Visual 3D software (version 5.02.11) and average of the attempts was analyzed. The evidence found suggests the occurrence of adaptive changes to maintain the dynamic balance in the Single Leg Turn in relation to the displacement of the CoM of the entire body in the mediolateral axis and in the flexion of the right knee in coupé and passé positions, which can be linked to the pattern of the dancer herself or to the conduction by the partner.