Static balance recovery following Cariñosa and Kuratsa performance: A comparative study among adult Filipino cultural dancer

Postural control after physical exertion is a recognized marker of neuromuscular fatigue, yet the balance demands of Philippine folk dance have not been examined using an objective, equipment-free measure. This within-subjects study compared static balance recovery following Cariñosa and Kuratsa performance among 45 adult members of three community-based cultural troupes in Butuan City, none of whom were students. Each participant performed both dances on separate days, at least 48 hours apart, in counterbalanced order. Static balance was assessed using the eyes-closed single-leg stance test, timed manually by two independently trained raters, at baseline and at 0 (immediate post-performance), 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 minutes of recovery. Baseline stance time did not differ significantly between sessions (22.80 vs. 22.65 seconds, p = .640). Kuratsa produced a significantly larger immediate decline in stance time (M = 11.80 s, SD = 2.49) than Cariñosa (M = 4.85 s, SD = 1.93), t(44) = -14.96, p < .001, and total recovery time to 85 percent of baseline was significantly longer after Kuratsa (M = 5.22 min, SD = 1.54) than after Cariñosa (M = 1.01 min, SD = 1.01), t(44) = -19.56, p < .001. No significant sex differences were found in immediate decline or recovery time following Kuratsa. Years of dance experience was significantly correlated with faster recovery after Cariñosa (r = -.35, p = .018) but not after Kuratsa (r = -.24, p = .109). Manual timing by two independent raters showed excellent agreement (r = .966, ICC = .966). These findings indicate that Kuratsa's turning-heavy, chase-based choreography imposes a substantially greater and longer-lasting postural control demand than Cariñosa's more measured courtship choreography, a distinction separate from and complementary to previously documented cardiovascular differences between the two dances, with practical implications for how community troupes sequence multi-dance programs to protect performer safety.