Assessment of hand eye co-ordination in female Bharatanatyam dancers

BACKGROUND: Bharathanatyam is an Indian classical dance form. The saying Yatha hasthaha thatha drishtihi which means eyes are where the hands are and shows the importance of hand and eye co-ordination in Bharatanatyam dancers. The objective was to assess hand eye co-ordination and to compare the results of dancers with nondancers.METHODS: Hand eye co-ordination was assessed by nine peg hole test and ball toss test in 32 dancers and 33 nondancers.RESULTS: Time taken to complete nine peg hole test with right (P=0.022) and left hand (P=0.015) was significantly higher in dancers compared to nondancers. There was no significant difference in the number of catches in ball toss test (P=0.99).CONCLUSIONS: Hand eye co-ordination of Bharatanatyam dancers was lower than that of nondancers. The extent to which hand eye co-ordination affects performance and its relation in improving balance and preventing injuries requires additional research.