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Laughter in the making: social bonding and coordination in dance practices
Finn Upham1, Bilge Serdar1, Alexander Refsum Jensenius1
1Department of Musicology, RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Frontiers in Psychology
|July 10, 2026
Summary
Laughter in dance is not a break but a tool for coordination. It helps dancers navigate challenges, build synchrony, and co-create understanding in real-time learning and performance.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Human Behavior
- Dance Studies
Background:
- Laughter is a common human behavior with social and evolutionary significance.
- Its role in artistic practices, particularly dance, is under-explored beyond humor.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the function of laughter in the participatory and developmental phases of dance.
- To understand laughter as a mechanism for coordination and group dynamics in dance contexts.
Main Methods:
- Multimodal analysis of three dance contexts: line dancing, Norwegian folk dance, and professional improvisation.
- Utilized video, physiological (heart rate, motion), and phenomenological data.
Main Results:
- Laughter is an integral, embodied tool for coordination development in dance, not a pause.
- It facilitates acknowledging mistakes, negotiating decisions, expressing difficulty, and sharing success.
- Laughter's characteristics are influenced by communication channels, modalities, and interaction dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Laughter is an efficient form of embodied communication in dance.
- It aids dancers in navigating uncertainty, enhancing interpersonal synchrony, and co-constructing shared understanding.
- Highlights the value of studying artistic practices as lived, co-created experiences.
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