Dance Choreography Research Articles

Copyrights Protection of Dance Choreography - Problems and Prospects

This paper explores the complexities of copyright protection for dance choreography, an art form that straddles the line between artistic expression and intellectual property law. While copyright law has long been established to protect works of authorship, dance choreography presents unique challenges due to its ephemeral nature and the difficulty in fixing movement in a tangible medium. The paper examines the existing legal frameworks in various jurisdictions, highlighting both the opportunities and limitations of current copyright regimes in safeguarding choreographic works. Key findings reveal that while choreographic works are eligible for copyright protection, the threshold for originality and fixation can be difficult to meet, often leading to disputes over what constitutes a protectable work. Additionally, the paper discusses the implications of digital media and social platforms on dance choreography, where unauthorized reproductions and remixes are common. The research concludes with recommendations for reforming copyright law to better address the evolving landscape of dance and movement-based arts. It argues for a more nuanced approach to the fixation requirement, as well as greater recognition of dance’s cultural and collaborative nature. The paper calls for broader international cooperation and clearer guidelines to ensure fair and effective protection for choreographers in the digital age.

From Vision to Stage: The Creative Journey of Dance Choreography

From Vision to Stage: The Creative Journey of Dance Choreography

Dancing robots: aesthetic engagement is shaped by stimulus and knowledge cues to human animacy.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robots are increasingly shaping the aesthetic preferences of art consumers, influencing how they perceive and engage with artistic works. This development raises various questions: do cues to the humanness of the origin of an artwork or artist influence our aesthetic preferences?. Across two experiments, we investigated how the perception and appreciation of dance is influenced by cues to human animacy. We manipulated Agent Form (human-like or robot-like dancer), Belief about Movement Source (human motion capture or computer animation), Source of Choreography (human- or computer-generated), and Belief about Choreography Source (believed to be human- or computer-generated). Results pointed toward agent congruence: In Experiment 1, robot agents were preferred when the movement source was believed to be computer animation. In Experiment 2, robot agents were preferred when the choreography was believed to be computer-generated, while choreographies believed to be human-generated were generally preferred. Participants could not accurately identify the actual source of choreography. These results persisted beyond the effects of age, dance expertise, technological expertise, attitudes toward AI, and perceived familiarity, complexity, evocativeness, technical competence, or reproducibility of the dance. Dance expertise, technological expertise, and attitudes toward AI independently impacted aesthetic judgments. These findings provide insights into the design of robotic dance, highlighting features of dance choreography and audience characteristics that influence aesthetic engagement. To enhance AI-driven creative productions, shaping perceptions will be crucial for better audience reception and engagement.

Interdisciplinary Fusion in Media: Innovative Applications of Dance, Music, and Film in Experimental Content Creation

In media-related experimental content, non-narrative methods utilizing non-verbal elements such as dance, music, and visual effects significantly enhance both narrative and emotional resonance. This paper explores how symbolic dance choreography, thematic music, and visual effects (e.g., color usage and shadow projections) convey narrative and emotional intent, heightening viewers' immersion and emotional engagement. Beginning with an analysis of symbolic dance, the paper demonstrates how abstract movements convey themes like freedom and oppression or states of joy and despair, revealing mechanisms of audience interaction on a fundamental level. Additionally, the paper discusses how live or pre-recorded music intensifies narrative structure and emotional involvement, using thematic motifs or silence to influence narrative pacing. In terms of visual effects, color theory and projections contribute an additional psychological depth to the narrative space. In experimental media, these non-verbal tools not only expand the boundaries of narrative expression but also blend emotion and storytelling into a unified, immersive experience.

Neural effects of multisensory dance training in Parkinson's disease: evidence from a longitudinal neuroimaging single case study.

Dance is associated with beneficial outcomes in motor and non-motor domains in Parkinson's disease (PD) and regular participation may help delay symptom progression in mild PD. However, little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms of dance interventions for PD. The present case study explored potential neuroplastic changes in a 69-year-old male with mild PD participating in regular dance classes over 29 weeks. Functional MRI was performed at four timepoints (pre-training, 11 weeks, 18 weeks, 29 weeks), where the individual imagined a dance choreography while listening to the corresponding music. Neural activity was compared between dance-imagery and fixation blocks at each timepoint. Analysis of functionally defined regions revealed significant blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal activation in the supplementary motor area, right and left superior temporal gyri and left and right insula, with modulation of these regions observed over the training period except for the left insula. The results suggest the potential for dance to induce neuroplastic changes in people with PD in regions associated with motor planning and learning, auditory processing, rhythm, emotion, and multisensory integration. The findings are consistent with dance being a multimodal therapeutic activity that could provide long-term benefits for people with PD.

Music-stylized hierarchical dance synthesis with user control

BackgroundSynthesizing dance motions to match musical inputs is a significant challenge in animation research. Compared to functional human motions, such as locomotion, dance motions are creative and artistic, often influenced by music, and can be independent body language expressions. Dance choreography requires motion content to follow a general dance genre, whereas dance performances under musical influence are infused with diverse impromptu motion styles. Considering the high expressiveness and variations in space and time, providing accessible and effective user control for tuning dance motion styles remains an open problem. MethodsIn this study, we present a hierarchical framework that decouples the dance synthesis task into independent modules. We use a high-level choreography module built as a Transformer-based sequence model to predict the long-term structure of a dance genre and a low-level realization module that implements dance stylization and synchronization to match the musical input or user preferences. This novel framework allows the individual modules to be trained separately. Because of the decoupling, dance composition can fully utilize existing high-quality dance datasets that do not have musical accompaniments, and the dance implementation can conveniently incorporate user controls and edit motions through a decoder network. Each module is replaceable at runtime, which adds flexibility to the synthesis of dance sequences. ResultsSynthesized results demonstrate that our framework generates high-quality diverse dance motions that are well adapted to varying musical conditions and user controls.

The Effect of Multimedia Technology on Dance Choreography

The Effect of Multimedia Technology on Dance Choreography

Recruiting Places: Pearl Primus's Plans for Global Activism through Community-Engaged Dance Theatre

In the summer of 1944, Black modern dancer Pearl Primus searched for authenticity. Over the past year, she had achieved critical success for her modern dance choreography that protested racial injustice in the South, informed by a leftist political mission. However, she thought something was missing. She explained to Dance Magazine, “I had done dances about sharecroppers and lynchings without ever having been close to such things.” In search of that missing component, Primus traveled from New York City, her home since she was a toddler, to the US South. A budding anthropologist, she went to live among Southern communities as a way to retool her protest choreography and make it more authentic. Unbeknownst to them, Southern community members would be recruited by her to provide inspiration for her performances and the leftist political stance that fueled those works. In identifying authentic expressive practices of the South through her anthropological practice, transferring what she found to her choreography, and then performing that repertoire on New York stages, she would further develop her ability to instill in Northern audiences the necessity of leftist activism.

Constitution of the "Kolo" Ensemble and Choreography of Traditional Dance – Anthropological Interpretation and Socio-Political Context

The Ensemble of Folk Dances and Songs of Serbia "Kolo" was founded in 1948 in Belgrade, on the initiative of the Committee for Culture and Art of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. The task of the Ensemble was to artistically interpret and present the so-called folk artistic creativity, which predominantly encompassed various folklore creations of the rural population, on stage, in the country and abroad. Although seemingly simple and folk-oriented, the art of traditional dance choreography has clear ideological and politically important messages of the then state leadership embedded in it foundations, intended to be spread among the Yugoslavs, but also beyond the state borders. The ensemble was supposed to present a desirable and appropriate image of Yugoslavia in its performances. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the formation of the “Kolo” Ensemble and the process of constituting the art of traditional dance choreography, taking into account the socio-political and historical context of the Second Yugoslavia. In addition, the paper approaches the deconstruction of the intention of choreographers and artistic directors, in order to reveal the ideological messages embedded in the artistic expression. The basic assumption in this paper is that dance troupes and traditional dance choreographies are strongly connected to the ideology and cultural policy of the nation-state. In this regard, even when choreographers and artistic directors create programs without direct political-ideological objectives, their decisions always rely on the socio-political context and the dominant ideologies within the state. The theoretical framework of the work is based on contemporary anthropological discussions about the concepts crucial for the interpretation of the material, primarily referring to the concept of ideology, understood in the Althusserian sense, but also to the ideas of the combination of state ideology, cultural policy, and dance with the aim of presenting the dance troupe with a desirable image of the nation-state. The methodology of the work consists of a combination of two approaches: classical anthropological, qualitative and archival research. Qualitative research includes conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 dancers who worked in "Kolo" in different time contexts, while archival research included reviewing the documentation of the "Kolo" Ensemble, the Archives of Yugoslavia and the personal and family archives of the dancers.

A comprehensive review of AI-based dance generation applications and their developmental prospects in virtual reality

In the context of the rapid development of large AI models, multimodal fusion, and extensive application of VR, particularly in the era where technology profoundly impacts artistic expression, this review explores the innovative intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and dance choreography. It discusses the evolution of dance creation from traditional methods to advanced AI-driven techniques, emphasizing the role of AI in analyzing and synthesizing complex dance movements. The review highlights the application of multimodal learning in dance, focusing on how AI utilizes auditory and visual data to understand and create dance sequences. A significant part of the review is dedicated to the integration of VR in dance, examining its potential to enhance the choreographic process and user experience. The paper also addresses the challenges and future prospects in AI choreography, including the development of VR interfaces for dance enthusiasts and creators, akin to modern music production software. This venture reflects a promising direction for AI and VR in transforming dance creation and presentation, making it more accessible and interactive.

EMOKINE: A software package and computational framework for scaling up the creation of highly controlled emotional full-body movement datasets

EMOKINE is a software package and dataset creation suite for emotional full-body movement research in experimental psychology, affective neuroscience, and computer vision. A computational framework, comprehensive instructions, a pilot dataset, observer ratings, and kinematic feature extraction code are provided to facilitate future dataset creations at scale. In addition, the EMOKINE framework outlines how complex sequences of movements may advance emotion research. Traditionally, often emotional-‘action’-based stimuli are used in such research, like hand-waving or walking motions. Here instead, a pilot dataset is provided with short dance choreographies, repeated several times by a dancer who expressed different emotional intentions at each repetition: anger, contentment, fear, joy, neutrality, and sadness. The dataset was simultaneously filmed professionally, and recorded using XSENS® motion capture technology (17 sensors, 240 frames/second). Thirty-two statistics from 12 kinematic features were extracted offline, for the first time in one single dataset: speed, acceleration, angular speed, angular acceleration, limb contraction, distance to center of mass, quantity of motion, dimensionless jerk (integral), head angle (with regards to vertical axis and to back), and space (convex hull 2D and 3D). Average, median absolute deviation (MAD), and maximum value were computed as applicable. The EMOKINE software is appliable to other motion-capture systems and is openly available on the Zenodo Repository. Releases on GitHub include: (i) the code to extract the 32 statistics, (ii) a rigging plugin for Python for MVNX file-conversion to Blender format (MVNX=output file XSENS® system), and (iii) a Python-script-powered custom software to assist with blurring faces; latter two under GPLv3 licenses.

ChoreoVis: Planning and Assessing Formations in Dance Choreographies

AbstractSports visualization has developed into an active research field over the last decades. Many approaches focus on analyzing movement data recorded from unstructured situations, such as soccer. For the analysis of choreographed activities like formation dancing, however, the goal differs, as dancers follow specific formations in coordinated movement trajectories. To date, little work exists on how visual analytics methods can support such choreographed performances. To fill this gap, we introduce a new visual approach for planning and assessing dance choreographies. In terms of planning choreographies, we contribute a web application with interactive authoring tools and views for the dancers' positions and orientations, movement trajectories, poses, dance floor utilization, and movement distances. For assessing dancers' real‐world movement trajectories, extracted by manual bounding box annotations, we developed a timeline showing aggregated trajectory deviations and a dance floor view for detailed trajectory comparison. Our approach was developed and evaluated in collaboration with dance instructors, showing that introducing visual analytics into this domain promises improvements in training efficiency for the future.

Koreografi Tari Sentak Ilau di Sanggar Seni Nan Gombang Painan Kabupaten Pesisir Selatan

This study aims to reveal, describe and analyze the Choreography of Sentak Ilau Dance at Nan Gombang Painan Art Center, South Pesisir Regency. This type of research is qualitative research using descriptive methods. This research instrument is the researcher himself assisted by supporting instruments in the form of stationery and cameras. Data were collected through literature study, observation, interviews and documentation. The steps of analyzing data are data collection, data reduction, data presentation and conclusions. The results of this study show that the choreography form of Sentak Ilau Dance at Nan Gombang Painan Art Studio in South Pesisir Regency consists of Motion, Top Design, Dynamics, Dramatic Design, Floor Design, Costumes, Properties, Group Composition, and Dance Accompaniment. Sentak Ilau Dance movement comes from Silek Tiger dance, Rantak Kudo and Salido cloth. The top design of Sentak Ilau Dance consists of Angular, Curved, High, Low, Flat, Vertical, Horizontal, Medium and contrasting top designs. The dynamics of Sentak Ilau Dance consists of three aspects, namely aspects of space, time and energy. The dramatic atmosphere in the dance is divided into 2 parts, namely calm and tense. The floor design used varies. Sentak Ilau's dance floor design consists of straight and curved lines. The musical instruments used are such as violin, kompang, bansi, serunai, saluang, talempong and tamburin. The property used in this sentak ilau dance is a jug containing frankincense and used tin bottles containing small stones. The costumes used are modified costumes, namely modified kuruang basiba clothes, Galembong, Saspayang cloth, headdresses used from sisampiang cloth and belts.

The Importance of Stage Scheduling in Dance Creation - - Taking Far Mountain is Not Far Away as an Example

Stage scheduling is to schedule the stage, schedule the position of the actors on the stage, also known as scene scheduling. In order to better show the central idea and connotation of the work, it is necessary to design and arrange the actors on the stage, which is called stage scheduling in drama. This paper mainly describes what is stage scheduling, stage scheduling methods and stage scheduling in the role and application of dance choreography. The basic content of dance creation is innovation and thinking ability. In order to achieve a more ideal stage effect, the application of stage scheduling in dance creation is indispensable. There are two main functions of stage scheduling: action scheduling and lyrical scheduling. Action scheduling is mainly targeted to the actor s action scheduling, commonly used in opera or slightly small plot singing. The lyrical scheduling mainly refers to the scheduling that has no action connection with the performer, which is mainly formulated for the needs of the atmosphere. Stage scheduling is mainly a means to make the stage resonate with the audience.

Artificial intelligence in dance education: Using immersive technologies for teaching dance skills

Artificial intelligence (AI) has led to a shift in modern dance education. Immersive technologies have become increasingly common worldwide, helping educators to improve the quality of dance pedagogy and increase the effectiveness of dance training. The article investigates the ways of using immersive technologies powered by artificial intelligence in dance education. The research explores the theoretical literature on dance education and the use of artificial intelligence in dance education and dance choreography. The scholars examine the impact of innovative technology solutions used in dance pedagogical practice on the development of dance skills in students. The study also discusses the functionality of interactive and multimedia dance teaching systems, including AI-powered virtual mentoring and cognitive simulations of human mind operations. The research analysed the use of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) in dance education. This research also focuses on mobile applications used for teaching modern dance. The proposed framework for dance education is based on digital technologies, which help to develop dance skills and improve teaching practices. The scholars conclude that the development and improvement of dance skills are possible only if a teacher combines virtual and real environments in everyday practices. The findings can be used by dance teachers, professional dancers, software developers, and researchers who examine the innovative practices and the application of artificial intelligence in dance education. The ecosystem model reframes thinking about approaches to dance education and can serve as the basis for further development of dance courses and dance style teaching modes.

Subjective Time Experience, Bodily Sensations, and the Aesthetic Experience of Dance Choreographies

Subjective Time Experience, Bodily Sensations, and the Aesthetic Experience of Dance Choreographies

Design and application of data security privacy protection technology in dance action sequence arrangement and display system

In view of the excessive consumption of difficult resources in traditional dance choreography, insufficient data in choreography and data leakage crisis in the system, this paper puts forward artificial intelligence technology to study the protection of dance choreography and system data security and privacy. In this paper, the directed graph neural network is used to intelligently arrange the dance movements, and the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is used to process the dance scene data so that the output data is highly similar to the original data. In the protection of data security and privacy, the method of data encryption is used, and the encrypted data needs to be decrypted by algorithm for reading. The experimental results show that the more complete the dance movement display, the higher the dance recognition rate, and the recognition rate of the dynamic light projection algorithm is greater than 90 % regardless of several sets of dance movements, while the recognition rate of the traditional light projection algorithm is not up to the standard regardless of several sets of movements, and the recognition rate of the point cloud segmentation method is higher than 90 % only in 3–4 sets of dance and 5–6 sets of dance movements.

Effectiveness of the Osaka “Ten-Year Rejuvenation” Project

Introduction: The “Ten-year rejuvenation project” is an initiative of the Osaka Prefectural Government to reduce the physical and mental age of residents in the prefecture by ten years and enable them to live in good health and vitality in preparation for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. Our team tested a “Ten-year rejuvenation dance” for elderly people with the goal of enhancing participants’ muscle strength and physical fitness and improving their cognitive function through memorizing the dance choreography. Method: Groups of around 30 participants each were recruited at 12 locations in Osaka prefecture and the Ten-year rejuvenation dance was practiced once per week over two months. Physical and mental tests carried out before and after participation were compared. Videos were also distributed so participants could dance at home in their free time. The dance program combines elements from physical therapy to improve joint flexibility, balance, muscle strength, and agility. Results: Physical fitness and cognitive scores were both significantly increased and physical tests showed that physical age was reduced by five to ten years. These results confirmed the meaningfulness of continuing this activity. Conclusion: Continued dancing demonstrated positive effects on mind and body, so we plan to increase video distribution to elderly people who cannot leave the house, expand the implementation area, and continue verification in the future.

Manifestation of Character Education in Ponorogo Keling Dance and Its Relevance as Teaching Material

The study aims to identify character education values in the Ponorogo Keling Dance. The character education values identified were assessed for their relevance as teaching material for the Javanese language subject for secondary-level students. The approach used in this research was qualitative with a constructivist paradigm. The data collection techniques were observation, interviews, literature study, and documentation. The resource person in this research was Wiyoto, head of the Guno Joyo Studio, Keling Dance Association. Data in terms of symbols and meaning will be analyzed using the hypersemiotic theory. The data validity used triangulation of data sources. The results showed that the Keling dance had local wisdom values indicated in symbols. These symbols were visualized in the Keling dance choreography and characters. After employing hyper semiotic theory, the study found symbols in the Keling dance containing character education values. These values are tolerance, creativity, national spirit, love of the nation, and care for the environment. These values are relevant to teaching material for the Javanese language subject in terms of character education values, availability to be integrated with the Javanese language subject, and contextuality following local cultural characteristics. The use of the Keling Dance as teaching material for the Javanese language subject hopefully introduces native Ponorogo arts other than reog.

Does the direction of shapes and bodies influence the aesthetic perception of stage setups in dance?

PurposePerceiving aesthetics in watching dance is a complex field of research, yet the component of space in general and stage setups, in particular in dance, is rarely studied. This study investigates the space on stage through the stage setups used in dance competitions. The main goal was to explore the aesthetic preferences of symmetry and the front-facing direction of shapes in a dance presentation. The investigation tries to determine how observers with differing dance experiences perceive the aesthetics of V-setups, diagonal lines, and their involved dancers by mirroring and turning shapes and bodies.MethodsCategorised into three groups (modern dancers, other dancers, non-dancers), 72 active female participants from dance studios and college sports courses evaluated the perceived aesthetics of eight arranged stage setups through a video ranking. Nine motion-captured avatars performed the hip-hop bounce movement in each setup. The participant’s task was to rank the presented stage setups based on their aesthetic perception. The ranking was illustrated with the means values, and the 5% significance criterion was tested with the Friedman-ANOVA.ResultsThe stage setups are perceived differently by the observers. The V-setups reached higher aesthetic scores than the diagonal lines. Only the group of modern dancers showed no preference for the V versus the diagonals. There was a significant difference between the direction of the arranged dancers on stage. The setups with all dancers’ bodies front-facing are aesthetically preferred. Furthermore, the regular V-setup with its top to the front and with all dancers’ bodies facing the front achieved the highest score in the aesthetic evaluation.ConclusionsThe results provide evidence that the feature of symmetry is a driving factor in perceiving aesthetics in dance. The V-setup can be suggested for use in dance choreographies to improve the aesthetic value of observers. Also, the direction of the dancers facing the front is recommended and should be used in dance stage setups.