Switching Partners: Dancing with the Ontological Engineers

Ontologies are today being applied in almost every field to support the alignment and retrieval of data of distributed provenance. Here we focus on new ontological work on dance and on related cultural phenomena belonging to what UNESCO calls the “intangible heritage.” Currently data and information about dance, including video data, are stored in an uncontrolled variety of ad hoc ways. This serves not only to prevent retrieval, comparison and analysis of the data, but may also impinge on our ability to preserve the data that already exists. Here we explore recent technological developments that are designed to counteract such problems by allowing information to be retrieved across disciplinary, cultural, linguistic and technological boundaries. Software applications such as the ones envisaged here will enable speedier recovery of data and facilitate its analysis in ways that will assist both archiving of and research on dance

The body beyond movement: (Missed) opportunities to engage with contemporary dance in HCI

This paper argues that a significant paradigm change in contemporary dance can offer further opportunities for HCI researchers interested in embodied interaction and interactive system design. Based on the analysis of 42 HCI papers in our data set, resulting from searches in two computing research libraries, we suggest seven thematic categories that reflect how HCI researchers have been engaging with contemporary dance. Moreover, we propose a standardized usage of contemporary dance terminology in HCI literature, and discuss the current state of engagement with publications from the field of performance theory. We identify three opportunities for HCI, which can arise through further engagement with the knowledge produced in contemporary dance and performance: to engage with the field of embodied interaction from the perspective of performance research and theory; to employ contemporary dance methods and practices in HCI research; and to integrate contemporary dance choreographers and performers as researchers in interdisciplinary projects

Rhythm in shoes: student perceptions of the integration of tap dance into choral music

The purpose of this qualitative study was to collect descriptive data pertaining to students’ perceptions regarding the use of tap dance movement and its effect on the understanding of rhythms found in choral literature. This enquiry investigated the following questions: (a) What are the perceptions of high school students regarding the difficulty of tap dance movement? (b) What are the perceptions of high school students regarding the effectiveness of tap dance movement as a method toward promoting their rhythm accuracy when performing rhythms featured in choral music? (c) What are the perceptions of high school students regarding the effectiveness of integrating tap dance movement with the study of select rhythm patterns chosen from choral literature in their retention of the rhythms? Over a five-month period, high school choral ensemble members (N = 88) were taught twenty-five rhythm patterns excerpted from choral literature, integrating tap dance movement with the instruction. The results revealed that the difficulty level of the movement, tempo at which it is executed, the changing of feet while performing the movement, and the amount of tap experience an individual possesses influence students’ perceptions regarding the degree of complexity of tap dance movement. Additionally, the data indicate the enjoyment of the movement, the demonstrations of the movement, the integration of music with the movement, the use of step names and counting, and the use of tap shoes are elements related to tap dance movement that students perceived to help promote their understanding of rhythms found in choral music. Moreover, the results pertaining to the students’ perception of how tap dance movement was an effective method of promoting their retention of rhythms found in choral music indicate a lack of agreement. While there were singers who found the movement to benefit their ability to memorize the examined rhythms, there was a comparable amount of students who indicated that they were unable to remember the rhythms following the instruction. Lastly, the findings provide information regarding the specific types of movements that students found beneficial to their rhythmic comprehension, adding to the existing literature and useful for replication in future studies

Mobile Museums

Mobile Museums presents an argument for the importance of circulation in the study of museum collections, past and present. It brings together an impressive array of international scholars and curators from a wide variety of disciplines – including the history of science, museum anthropology and postcolonial history - to consider the mobility of collections. The book combines historical perspectives on the circulation of museum objects in the past with contemporary accounts of their re-mobilisation, notably in the context of Indigenous community engagement. Contributors seek to explore processes of circulation historically in order to re-examine, inform and unsettle common assumptions about the way museum collections have evolved over time and through space. By foregrounding questions of circulation, the chapters in Mobile Museums collectively represent a fundamental shift in the understanding of the history and future uses of museum collections. The book addresses a variety of different types of collection, including the botanical, the ethnographic, the economic and the archaeological. Its perspective is truly global, with case studies drawn from South America, West Africa, Oceania, Australia, the United States, Europe and the UK. Mobile Museums helps us to understand why the mobility of museum collections was a fundamental aspect of their history and why it continues to matter today. Praise for Mobile Museums 'This book advances a paradigm shift in studies of museums and collections. A distinguished group of contributors reveal that collections were not dead assemblages. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were marked by vigorous international traffic in ethnography and natural history specimens that tell us much about colonialism, travel and the history of knowledge – and have implications for the remobilisation of museums in the future.’ – Nicholas Thomas, University of Cambridge 'The first major work to examine the implications and consequences of the migration of materials from one scientific or cultural milieu to another, it highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of collections and offers insights into their potential for future re-mobilization.' – Arthur MacGrego

METROPOLITAN ENCHANTMENT AND DISENCHANTMENT. METROPOLITAN ANTHROPOLOGY FOR THE CONTEMPORARY LIVING MAP CONSTRUCTION

We can no longer interpret the contemporary metropolis as we did in the last century. The thought of civil economy regarding the contemporary Metropolis conflicts more or less radically with the merely acquisitive dimension of the behaviour of its citizens. What is needed is therefore a new capacity for imagining the economic-productive future of the city: hybrid social enterprises, economically sustainable, structured and capable of using technologies, could be a solution for producing value and distributing it fairly and inclusively. Metropolitan Urbanity is another issue to establish. Metropolis needs new spaces where inclusion can occur, and where a repository of the imagery can be recreated. What is the ontology behind the technique of metropolitan planning and management, its vision and its symbols? Competitiveness, speed, and meritocracy are political words, not technical ones. Metropolitan Urbanity is the characteristic of a polis that expresses itself in its public places. Today, however, public places are private ones that are destined for public use. The Common Good has always had a space of representation in the city, which was the public space. Today, the Green-Grey Infrastructure is the metropolitan city's monument that communicates a value for future generations and must therefore be recognised and imagined; it is the production of the metropolitan symbolic imagery, the new magic of the city

Rhythmic Movements and Feeling States

This study was conducted to test the validity of a theoretical framework in developmental psychology of body movement analysis, the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP). Motor patterns associated with needs and foundations for affect expression, the tension flow rhythms (TFRs), were examined. Recent research examined the validity of the TFRs in nonclinical adults and found preliminary support for some of the KMP’s assumptions associating smooth (indulging) rhythms with indulgent affects and sharp (fighting) movements with assertive or aggressive affects. This study aimed to test the TFRs associated with the first two years of development—the sucking, biting, twisting, and strain/release rhythms. The sucking and biting rhythms are associated with the first year of life and the twisting rhythms are associated with the second year of life. The guiding hypotheses for this study were that adults embodying four different TFRs (two smooth- and two sharp-quality) different affects between each of the four TFRs; and would experience different affects within the two categories, indulging and fighting. Fifty-three adults, ages 18-80 participated in the study. Each person enacted four TFRs and completed a survey after each movement to indicate how they felt after enacting that movement. Six of the participants were interviewed about their experiences. Each participant also completed an electronic test of emotional self-awareness. Statistical analyses showed support for both hypotheses. Participants reported different qualities of indulgent affects when engaging in the indulging TFRs and different qualities of assertive affects when engaging in the fighting TFRs (p