Learning Choreography: An Investigation of Motor Imagery, Attentional Effort, and Expertise in Modern Dance.

Katy Carey,Aidan Moran,Brendan Rooney

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00422

Abstract

The study of choreography in dance offers researchers an intriguing window on the relationship between expertise, imagination, and attention in the creative process of learning new movements. The present study investigated an unresolved issue in this field – namely, the effects of expertise on motor imagery (MI; or the mental rehearsal of actions without engaging in the actual movements involved) and attentional effort (as measured by pupil dilation) on dancers while they engaged in the processes of learning, performing, and imagining a dance movement. Participants were 18 female dancers (mean age = 23, SD = 5.85) comprising three experience levels (i.e., novice, intermediate and expert performers) in this field. Data comprised these participants’ MI scores as well as their pupil dilation while they learned, performed, and imagined a 15 s piece of choreography. In addition, the time taken both to perform and to imagine the choreography were recorded. Results showed no significant effect of dance expertise on MI but some differences between beginners and intermediate dancers in attentional effort (pupil dilation) at the start of the performance and the imagined movement conditions. Specifically, the beginners had the highest pupil dilation, with the experts having the second highest, while intermediates had the lowest dilation. Further analysis suggested that the novice dancers’ pupil dilation at the start of the performance may have been caused, in part, by the initial mental effort required to assess the cognitive demands of the dance task.

Highlights

Dance is a form of artistic expression and communication involving “moving the body through time and space” (Cross and Ticini, 2012, p. 6)
In view of the dearth of research on cognitive psychological aspects of dance, the purpose of the present paper is to investigate the relationship between motor imagery (MI) and attentional effort in dancers of differing expertise who engage in this possibility thinking while learning and performing choreography
The apparent mean score differences would suggest an increase in performance on the test of ability in movement imagery (TAMI) and Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3 (MIQ-3) as level of dance expertise increased, hypothesis 1 was not supported for the TAMI; F(2, 17) = 0.63, p = 0.55, ηp2 = 0.077 or the movement imagery questionnaire (MIQ)-3; F(2, 17) = 2, p = 0.17, ηp2 = 0.211

Summary

Introduction

Dance is a form of artistic expression and communication involving “moving the body through time and space” (Cross and Ticini, 2012, p. 6). It is a cognitively and physically demanding art-form which elicits creativity in the dancer, who is required to be able to adapt movements that are rhythmical and esthetically pleasing (Kaufman and Baer, 2005). Kaufman and Baer (2005) argued that dancers are inherently creative due to the constant decision making that they require when improvising or creating their own choreography and when learning and performing movements. When learning a new movement (i.e., one that is not in their behavioral repertoire), dancers are confronted with a problem In such situations, according to Weisberg’s (2018) “expertise view” of creativity, the “presentation of a problem results in retrieval of knowledge – i.e. expertise – from memory; creative advances evolve out of attempts to apply that knowledge to the new situation” Kaufman and Baer (2005) postulated that a creative dancer is one who can utilize MI to achieve a heightened awareness of performance, as images can incorporate physicality, emotion and expressiveness, which are three key components of a dance performance

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