The Neuroaesthetics of Choreography

Across all cultures people dance. Yet, existing psychological theories of aesthetic appreciation have largely focused on the visual arts and music. In this talk I will outline a neuro-cognitive model that combines principles from communication and dynamical systems theories with the cognitive neuroscience of action perception to provide a conceptual framework for an aesthetic science of human movement. I will review some behavioural and neuroimaging experiments on how movement biases time perception, sequential structures in movement sequences, and behavioural synchronization in groups. Human movement is the common denominator of all live performing arts including dance, theatre and music performance. Understanding the appeal of watching other people move can therefore provide a framework for a neuroaesthetics of the performing arts.

Biography
Guido Orgs received his training in both Performing Dance (Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen Germany) and Psychology (University of Düsseldorf, Germany). After completion of his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, he performed with German Dance Company NEUER TANZ/VA WÖLFL from 2008 to 2011, performing at international theatres and dance festivals, including the Theatre de la Ville, Paris and kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels. In 2009 he joined the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL to conduct research on visual body and action perception and the neuroaesthetics of dance. Currently, he investigates movement synchronization, collaborating with social psychologist Daniel Richardson, UCL, and choreographer Matthias Sperling. Since September 2015 he has been a Lecturer in Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London.