Subjectivity in ballet dance judging: linking performance to biomechanical landing analysis

Purpose: Dance performances evaluation often relies on subjective scoring, which may introduce bias due to human judgement limitations. This study investigated discrepancies between experienced dance judges and examined correlations between their scores and biomechanical landing measures. Methods: Twenty-one adolescent female dancers performed six attempts of saut de chat in a biomechanics laboratory. Two judges independently rated landing performance using a visual analogue scale. The agreement between their scores was measured using inter-rater reliability, while linear mixed-effects models were employed to examine the relationship between landing performance and biomechanical measures, including both kinematic and kinetic parameters. Results: The inter-rater reliability between the two judges for landing performance scores was poor (ICC_2,1 = 0.109). The plantarflexion angle at initial contact showed no significant association with performance scores for either judge (p > 0.05). In contrast, greater ankle plantarflexion excursion was significantly associated with higher scores from one judge (p = 0.002). Peak loading rate and body stiffness showed no significant association with the scores of either judges (p > 0.05), while greater knee stiffness (p = 0.002) and greater ankle stiffness (p = 0.001) were each associated with higher scores from one judge. Conclusion: Personal preference among experienced dance judges can significantly impact their evaluations of dance performance. Incorporating biomechanical assessments into dance performance evaluation has potential further validation.