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Thinking in action: thought made visible in contemporary dance.
Catherine Stevens1, Shirley McKechnie
1MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith, NSW, 1797, Australia. kj.stevens@uws.edu.au
Cognitive Processing
|February 2, 2008
Summary
Contemporary dance utilizes both procedural and declarative knowledge, akin to language processing. This study explores the cognitive underpinnings of creating and performing dance, suggesting neural mechanisms for movement composition and appreciation.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroscience
- Dance Studies
Background:
- Contemporary dance is a non-verbal art form where ideas are expressed through body movement and stillness.
- Understanding the cognitive processes behind dance creation and performance is crucial for appreciating its complexity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine contemporary dance through the lens of procedural and declarative long-term knowledge.
- To identify potential neural mechanisms underlying dance composition, performance, and appreciation.
Main Methods:
- Described two settings for contemporary dance creation and performance.
- Analyzed dance communication through psychological processes like visual perception, motor simulation, and implicit learning.
- Delineated lexical and grammatical components within dance movement.
Main Results:
- Contemporary dance creation and performance involve both procedural and declarative knowledge.
- Dance communication utilizes mirror neurons and implicit learning of movement vocabularies.
- Neural mechanisms align with Ullman's model, linking lexical knowledge to declarative memory and grammar to procedural memory.
Conclusions:
- Dance can be viewed as a language with lexical and grammatical structures.
- Procedural knowledge in dance is enhanced by expressive nuance and communicative intent.
- Further experiments are suggested to investigate the cognitive aspects of dance thought in action.
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