Boris Popovic; Snezana Damjanovic; Drazenka Macak; Stefan Maricic & Damjan Jaksic

The goal of this research was to examine the anthropometric characteristics and define the somatotypes of female junior contemporary dancers. The study included a total of 62 dancers, with a mean age of 13.16±1.11 (years + SD) and an average dance experience of 5.85±2.56 (years + SD). According the instructions of the Heath-Carter protocol for defining somatotypes, 10 anthropometric measurements were taken by a trained researcher. The somatotypes of the young dancers were calculated and obtained using R 4.2.3. The main finding of the study indicates that the dancers have moderate muscle mass and a lean body, which corresponds to the balanced mesomorph-ectomorph somatotype, aligning with the physical and aesthetic demands of contemporary dance.

KEY WORDS: Modern dance; Anthropometry; Body type; Body composition.

POPOVIC,B.;DAMJANOVIC,S.;MACAK,D.;MARICIC,S.&JAKSIC,D.Somatotypeofcontemporarydancers.Int.J.Morphol., 44(1):116-120, 2026.