The experience of watching dance: phenomenological–neuroscience duets

Jola, Corinne; Ehrenberg, Shantel; Reynolds, Dee

doi:10.1007/s11097-010-9191-x

Cited by 53 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Jola et al (2012b) have addressed this and related concerns through their discussion of how phenomenology and neuroscience are brought to bear on experiments involving dance as an art form. Through their work, they not only investigate observers' aesthetic responses via brain and behavioral measures during evening-length costumed dance performances in the theater (Jola et al, 2012a), but they also consider different ways in which dance and behavioral and brain science disciplines can be combined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through their work, they not only investigate observers' aesthetic responses via brain and behavioral measures during evening-length costumed dance performances in the theater (Jola et al, 2012a), but they also consider different ways in which dance and behavioral and brain science disciplines can be combined. On one hand, they point out how measures of cortical excitability during dance spectating can be used as measurement of engagement in dance (Jola et al, 2012b), but on the other hand they also argue for the additional benefit of qualitative interviews to investigate what participants actually liked and where they focused while watching dance performances. In their research, they found that people who enjoyed the dance performance gave answers that could be classified into the categories “desire to move,” feeling a “connection to the dancer” and “having an emotional response to the performance.” Their findings highlight how quantitative and qualitative research methods mutually inform one another and pave the way for developing new insights in the perception of dance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By using a popular video game system that teaches players to mirror hip-hop/popular dance sequences performed by avatars, we controlled for specific features of the physical stimuli and participants' training experience, including movement, music, costumes, and background. Thus, our approach moves a step beyond the short isolated dance clips with minimal costume or setting information used in most prior studies that have used dance to study psychological or neuroscientific questions (c.f., Bläsing et al, 2012), and helps to create a more ecologically-valid, natural performance and spectator experience (c.f., Jola et al, 2012a,b). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Through use of neuroimaging (Calvo-Merino et al, 2005, 2006; Orgs et al, 2008), behavioral (Calvo-Merino et al, 2010; Stevens et al, 2010; Jola et al, 2012b), and combined neuroimaging and behavioral approaches (Brown et al, 2006; Cross et al, 2006, 2009a,b), these studies demonstrate how being in possession of a highly skilled movement repertoire influences perception of other people in motion (for a comprehensive overview, see Bläsing et al, 2012). One relevant strand of scientific inquiry that has used dance as a medium for understanding links between perception and action focuses on the aesthetic value of a movement to an observer (Cross and Ticini, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of sensorimotor experience on affective evaluation of dance

Kirsch¹,

Drommelschmidt²,

Cross³

2013

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Past research demonstrates that we are more likely to positively evaluate a stimulus if we have had previous experience with that stimulus. This has been shown for judgment of faces, architecture, artworks and body movements. In contrast, other evidence suggests that this relationship can also work in the inverse direction, at least in the domain of watching dance. Specifically, it has been shown that in certain contexts, people derive greater pleasure from watching unfamiliar movements they would not be able to physically reproduce compared to simpler, familiar actions they could physically reproduce. It remains unknown, however, how different kinds of experience with complex actions, such as dance, might change observers' affective judgments of these movements. Our aim was to clarify the relationship between experience and affective evaluation of whole body movements. In a between-subjects design, participants received either physical dance training with a video game system, visual and auditory experience or auditory experience only. Participants' aesthetic preferences for dance stimuli were measured before and after the training sessions. Results show that participants from the physical training group not only improved their physical performance of the dance sequences, but also reported higher enjoyment and interest in the stimuli after training. This suggests that physically learning particular movements leads to greater enjoyment while observing them. These effects are not simply due to increased familiarity with audio or visual elements of the stimuli, as the other two training groups showed no increase in aesthetic ratings post-training. We suggest these results support an embodied simulation account of aesthetics, and discuss how the present findings contribute to a better understanding of the shaping of preferences by sensorimotor experience.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The impact of sensorimotor experience on affective evaluation of dance

Kirsch¹,

Drommelschmidt²,

Cross³

2013

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Another approach is to study actual dance performance from the spectators' point of view. These studies investigate how the brains of spectators who are not dancers themselves respond to watching live dance performances (Jola, Ehrenberg, & Reynolds 2011;Jola, Pollick, & Grosbras, 2011). This is indeed one of the most exciting new directions being pursued within this field, only just beginning to yield the first results.…”

Section: Neural Substrates Of Action Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurocognitive control in dance perception and performance

et al. 2012

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Dance is a rich source of material for researchers interested in the integration of movement and cognition. The multiple aspects of embodied cognition involved in performing and perceiving dance have inspired scientists to use dance as a means for studying motor control, expertise, and action-perception links. The aim of this review is to present basic research on cognitive and neural processes implicated in the execution, expression, and observation of dance, and to bring into relief contemporary issues and open research questions. The review addresses six topics: 1) dancers' exemplary motor control, in terms of postural control, equilibrium maintenance, and stabilization; 2) how dancers' timing and on-line synchronization are influenced by attention demands and motor experience; 3) the critical roles played by sequence learning and memory; 4) how dancers make strategic use of visual and motor imagery; 5) the insights into the neural coupling between action and perception yielded through exploration of the brain architecture mediating dance observation; and 6) a neuroesthetics perspective that sheds new light on the way audiences perceive and evaluate dance expression. Current and emerging issues are presented regarding future directions that will facilitate the ongoing dialog between science and dance

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Emotional Expression, Perception, and Induction in Music and Dance: Considering Ecologically Valid Intentions

Susino

2023

Journal of Creative Behavior

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Cognitive and behavioral studies ranging from biomechanics to motor functions and neural mirroring explorations have extensively investigated the communication of emotions in music and dance. Recognized for their ability to convey and elicit emotions, various studies aim to validate the extent to which auditory expressive cues and embodied expressive movements are able to convey emotions. However, is expressing and evoking emotions a generalized intention of music and dance? Although much data exists based on audience responses (decoders), composers' and choreographers' (encoders) intentions beyond experimental instructions are still being determined. This paper reports two studies investigating the intention of composers and choreographers when creating new works. Results revealed that expressing emotions is not a primary goal yet a significant underlying intention. Furthermore, composers and choreographers aimed for their expressed emotions to be perceived rather than felt. Moreover, the genre conventions determined by stylistic and cultural factors influenced emotion expression, with some genres allowing more expressive cues than others, likely affecting the extent to which emotions are meaningfully conveyed. These findings point to potential cue variance between actual intentions and experiment‐intended stimuli to express and thus communicate emotions. An argument for the importance of ecological validity in laboratory‐based experiments is presented.

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The experience of watching dance: phenomenological–neuroscience duets

Cited by 53 publications

References 46 publications

The impact of sensorimotor experience on affective evaluation of dance

The impact of sensorimotor experience on affective evaluation of dance

Neurocognitive control in dance perception and performance

Emotional Expression, Perception, and Induction in Music and Dance: Considering Ecologically Valid Intentions

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