Spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in dance performance

In this paper we present a study of spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in live dance performance. A multidisciplinary team comprising a choreographer, neuroscientists and qualitative researchers investigated the effects of different sound scores on dance spectators. What would be the impact of auditory stimulation on kinesthetic experience and/or aesthetic appreciation of the dance? What would be the effect of removing music altogether, so that spectators watched dance while hearing only the performers’ breathing and footfalls? We investigated audience experience through qualitative research, using post-performance focus groups, while a separately conducted functional brain imaging (fMRI) study measured the synchrony in brain activity across spectators when they watched dance with sound or breathing only. When audiences watched dance accompanied by music the fMRI data revealed evidence of greater intersubject synchronisation in a brain region consistent with complex auditory processing. The audience research found that some spectators derived pleasure from finding convergences between two complex stimuli (dance and music). The removal of music and the resulting audibility of the performers’ breathing had a significant impact on spectators’ aesthetic experience. The fMRI analysis showed increased synchronisation among observers, suggesting greater influence of the body when interpreting the dance stimuli. The audience research found evidence of similar corporeally focused experience. The paper discusses possible connections between the findings of our different approaches, and considers the implications of this study for interdisciplinary research collaborations between arts and sciences

The Role of Gesture in Spatial and Non-Spatial Learning in Children and Adults

The purpose of this study was to identify whether gesture differentially affects spatial or non-spatial language comprehension and memory in both children and adults. Previous research (i.e. Goldin-Meadow, 1996, 2001; McNeill, 1992, 2005) examines only the role of gesture in learning without addressing development. For this study, participant’s baseline gesture rate is recorded and then stories containing either spatial or non-spatial components are read to the participants. Participants then receive factual and convergent comprehension questions. While answering, they either gesture naturally, are required to gesture, or are told not to gesture. A three-term inference problem task (Knauff & Johnson-Laird, 2002) and an operation span task (Deneman & Carpenter, 1980) are used to measure possible covariates. The results show that the gesture condition (natural gesture, no gesture, or forced gesture) and whether the story contained spatial or non-spatial components create two significant main effects but no interaction. This suggests that participant’s amount of gesture significantly increases when forced and participant’s gesture significantly increases when asked to think spatially, although these two conditions do not interact. The amount of increase in an individual’s gesturing during the forced gesture condition did not significantly predict their increase in memory for the stories

Poetics of the [Selves]∞: An Active Aesthetic

This practitioner-based research reports on the development and assessment of a transdisciplinary pedagogical model for the learning sciences. The theoretical underpinnings of Poetics of the [Selves]∞ draw from three domains of knowledge: (1) mindfulness, (2) positive psychology, and (3) contemporary performance. The approach is designed to create positive self-transformation in participants as a result of engaging them in a sequence of activities that require different modes of reflection. The model was tested in two settings: a collaborative learning space, and a university classroom. The sample from the first workshop included individuals from the general public, and middle and high-school foreign language teachers comprised the second workshop. The data sources that underwent analysis included audio-visual documentation from each workshop. This qualitative study employed the principles and methods of Interactional Ethnography and critical discourse analysis to construct two telling cases of Poetics of the [Selves]∞. Analytic results from both workshops suggest that Poetics of the [Selves]∞ has the potential to enhance self-awareness and increase positive affect toward others. Moreover, the results of the second workshop showed its potential value in foreign language classrooms as it promoted authentic content connections, built rapport, and reinforced knowledge by activating different modes of learning in participants

'I don't come from the past, I come from now': AIDS and temporality in three Catalan texts

This article analyses literary representations of HIV/AIDS in Catalan against the background of current debates in Queer Theory about sexuality and temporality, taking into account the invisibility of the disease within Catalan culture, which is symptomatic of a representational crisis. Through a psychoanalytic reading of Maria Antònia Oliver's Tallats de lluna (2000), Xavier Fernández i Gené's Del roig al vermell (1999) and Pepe Sales's Sense re, sense remei (2009), the essay raises three questions related to AIDS, sexuality, subjectivity, and temporality. Firstly, what do the temporal relations and structures in the representations of AIDS available in Catalan tell us about subjectivity with regards to finitude, contingency, and mortality? What does it mean to read literary representations of AIDS in 2012, when this very act seems an anachronism? Finally, what do these representations tell us about the nature of witnessing and its ethical implications, especially when witnessing involves speaking on somebody else's behalf? The essay argues that these texts and their marginal position within contemporary Catalan literature raise questions about the effects of the ideologies of canonicity on the representation of illness and, more specifically, the representation of HIV/AIDS. It is precisely the marginal status of these texts, the critical oblivion to which they have been subjected, that makes them appear almost as archaeological objects outside their time, as anachronistic as the gesture of discussing AIDS today. I argue, however, that such a critical gesture and its corresponding focus on temporality, mortality, and remembrance, are crucial for understanding the present condition of Catalan culture

The Allergic Bodies Conference: Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Research Conference, 2010

This is the programme document for the annual Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Research Conference with Keynotes: Dr Jennifer Bajorek (Goldsmiths), Marianne Sjelsford (National Academy of Arts, Oslo, Sweden); Dr Maarten Vanvolsem (Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Katholieke Universiteit, Brussels), Professor Pedro Lasch (Duke University)

Gesture and Speech in Interaction - 4th edition (GESPIN 4)

International audienceThe fourth edition of Gesture and Speech in Interaction (GESPIN) was held in Nantes, France. With more than 40 papers, these proceedings show just what a flourishing field of enquiry gesture studies continues to be. The keynote speeches of the conference addressed three different aspects of multimodal interaction:gesture and grammar, gesture acquisition, and gesture and social interaction. In a talk entitled Qualitiesof event construal in speech and gesture: Aspect and tense, Alan Cienki presented an ongoing researchproject on narratives in French, German and Russian, a project that focuses especially on the verbal andgestural expression of grammatical tense and aspect in narratives in the three languages. Jean-MarcColletta's talk, entitled Gesture and Language Development: towards a unified theoretical framework,described the joint acquisition and development of speech and early conventional and representationalgestures. In Grammar, deixis, and multimodality between code-manifestation and code-integration or whyKendon's Continuum should be transformed into a gestural circle, Ellen Fricke proposed a revisitedgrammar of noun phrases that integrates gestures as part of the semiotic and typological codes of individuallanguages. From a pragmatic and cognitive perspective, Judith Holler explored the use ofgaze and hand gestures as means of organizing turns at talk as well as establishing common ground in apresentation entitled On the pragmatics of multi-modal face-to-face communication: Gesture, speech andgaze in the coordination of mental states and social interaction.Among the talks and posters presented at the conference, the vast majority of topics related, quitenaturally, to gesture and speech in interaction - understood both in terms of mapping of units in differentsemiotic modes and of the use of gesture and speech in social interaction. Several presentations explored the effects of impairments(such as diseases or the natural ageing process) on gesture and speech. The communicative relevance ofgesture and speech and audience-design in natural interactions, as well as in more controlled settings liketelevision debates and reports, was another topic addressed during the conference. Some participantsalso presented research on first and second language learning, while others discussed the relationshipbetween gesture and intonation. While most participants presented research on gesture and speech froman observer's perspective, be it in semiotics or pragmatics, some nevertheless focused on another importantaspect: the cognitive processes involved in language production and perception. Last but not least,participants also presented talks and posters on the computational analysis of gestures, whether involvingexternal devices (e.g. mocap, kinect) or concerning the use of specially-designed computer software forthe post-treatment of gestural data. Importantly, new links were made between semiotics and mocap data

Integrating Gestures

Gestures convey information about culture, discourse, thought, intentionality, emotion, intersubjectivity, cognition, and first and second language acquisition. Additionally, they are used by non-human primates to communicate with their peers and with humans. Consequently, the modern field of gesture studies has attracted researchers from a number of different disciplines such as anthropology, cognitive science, communication, neuroscience, psycholinguistics, primatology, psychology, robotics, sociology and semiotics. This volume presents an overview of the depth and breadth of current research in gesture. Its focus is on the interdisciplinary nature of gesture. The chapters included in the volume are divided into six themes: the nature and functions of gesture, first language development and gesture, second language effects on gesture, gesture in the classroom and in problem solving, gesture aspects of discourse and interaction, and gestural analysis of music and dance

CONNECTION IN CHAOS: CREATING & EMBODYING YOUR STORY THROUGH MOVEMENT

This thesis is a reflection of my experience researching, designing and teaching my course, Creating & Embodying Your Story Through Movement. Throughout the process, my focus has been on assisting students in gaining ownership of their own creative process through the practice of adapting their own life experiences as source material for the creation of solo and ensemble theatrical work. The driving question behind my research and in the practical exploration of the course is: How, in this age of disconnection from one’s self, caused by technology, cultivated social media existence, competition, fear of failure, and high anxiety, can we assist young actors in gaining ownership of their creative process and realizing the value of their uniqueness? In this course designed for a B.A. Theatre Program, utilizing physical theatre methodologies, students are able to expand their physical awareness and presence, through the extension of their physical vocabulary, and the embodiment of text. In addition, working as a collaborative ensemble, they are able to cross a threshold as actors and step into the knowledge that they are valuable for their uniqueness, gaining the invaluable gift of agency as artists