The Audio-Visual Aesthetics of Music and Dance

Dance and music appear to belong together: Conventional definitions of dance often conceive it as a rhythmical activity in which a series of steps is performed to musical accompaniment. Indeed, dance and music share many similarities such as rhythm and may have co-evolved as a form of nonverbal communication between groups of people. Despite a rich history of composers and choreographers exploring the aesthetic relationship between dance and music, only a few scientific studies have systematically explored how the visual aesthetics of dance interact with the auditory aesthetics of sound and music. In this chapter we will focus on such interactions; we will explore the common evolutionary origins of dance and music and review existing research on how dance and music influence each other to produce an audio-visual aesthetics of sound and movement. The chapter will explore interactions in both directions: music influences dance perception by altering movement expressiveness, orienting visual attention, and by modulating memory. At the same time music perception strongly depends on groove and danceability and is shaped by the listener’s dance experience. The chapter closes with a review of methodological challenges to studying the audio-visual aesthetics of dance and music and suggestions for future research in this field.

Summary

This chapter summarizes the key points of the preceding chapters and embarks on a number of speculations. It shows that the strength of the evidence for each of the preceding statements varies. On one hand, some propositions are based merely on the supposition that it would make sense if an anatomical or physiological feature functioned in a certain way (such as sensory processing by back-projections). On the other hand, the proposition for “time-chunking” seems irrefutable in view of the abundant evidence from masking experiments. Further, given the existence of time-chunking, then not only is the case for binding of sensory features by common rhythmical activity untenable, but one can also then look for neurophysiological activity that would fit in with time-chunking. Ultimately, this chapter presents both of these key speculations and the evidence for them and leaves the reader to decide for themselves.

Hippocampic Theta Rhythm

A prominent theta rhythm dominates the EEG of rodents such as rabbits, rats and mice. This rhythmical activity is preponderant in the hippocampus and may become quite widespread; it is usually arousal-related and generated by cholinergic mechanisms. This pattern has been intensively studied by experimental neuroscientists but is rather little known in circles of clinical electroencephalographers. Hippocampic theta rhythm is also found in canines and felines but at a clearly lesser degree and is practically absent in monkeys and humans. An olfactory memory of the macrosmatic rodents helps us understand “the world in which they live,” their EEG patterns being an objective sign of their neuropsychology.

ESTUDO QUALITATIVO DO DESENVOLVIMENTO DA CAPACIDADE RÍTMICA DA CRIANÇA: RITMO ESPONTÂNEO E RITMO MÉTRICO

Este trabalho é parte da investigação realizada no Curso de Mestrado em Ciencia do Movimento Humano da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul concluído em 1997, sob a orientação do professor Dr. Airton Negrine. O trabalho que apresentamos nos remete ao estudo do ritmo, no qual buscamos respostas às nossas dúvidas sobre a criança e a atividade rítmica. Tentamos verificar, através da dança e de atividades rítmicas, o desenvolvimento perceptivo-rítmico, potenciando o ritmo espontâneo e métrico, como facilitador de respostas rítmicas na criança pequena. Tratou-se de um estudo etnográfico, pois tentamos descrever, explicar e interpretar os fenômenos ocorridos através da atividade rítmica. A interpretação das informações coletadas foi apoiada nas categorias que surgiram a partir das evidências observadas, mostrando-nos aspectos importantes para o desenvolvimento da capacidade rítmica da criança tais como: a história prévia da criança e as mudanças no comportamento rítmico, expressivo e motriz, através das atividades que potenciavam o ritmo espontâneo e através de atividades onde a métrica era determinada, mostrando aspectos diferenciados no campo metodológico. The study we presented remit to the study of rhythm, in which we search answer to our doubts about the child and rhythmical activity. We tried verify through dance and rhytmical activities, the rythmical-perceptive development capaciting the spontaneous and metric rhythm, which promotes some facilities to rhythmical responses in the little child. It was an ethnographic study, since we tried to describe, explain, and interpret the phenomena occured through the rhythmical activity. The interpretation of the collected information was supported on the categories emerged through the observed evidences, showing important aspects to the development of the child's rhythmical capacity such as: the previous history of child, and the changes in the rhythmical, expressive and motor behaviors, through activities that provided the spontaneous rhythm, and through activities in which the metric rhythm was determined showing different aspects in methodologic field.