Kinematic motion characteristics and observer’s expertise in perceived aesthetics of dance jumps

ABSTRACT

Specific aesthetic features of the object and observer’s expertise seem to be related to the perception of motion aesthetics. How differing kinematic motion characteristics and their manifestation are related to the perception of motion aesthetics and how this relates to the observer’s expertise is still investigated. It is hypothesized that different manifestations of the kinematic motion characteristics amplitude, fluency, and complexity are related to perceived motion aesthetics of dance skills and observer’s expertise. Dancers’ and non-dancers’ perception of motion aesthetics was assessed when watching stick-figure video sequences of semi-standardized dance jumps, classified relating to three kinematic motion characteristics and their semantic differentials. Large, fluent, and complex dance jumps were perceived as more aesthetic than small, jerky, and simple jumps. There was no general effect on the observer’s expertise. Nevertheless, non-dancers gave higher aesthetic ratings for complex dance jumps than dancers. Findings indicate that expertise does not relate to the perception of motion aesthetics per se. In contrast, specific kinematic motion characteristics of dance jumps do. Amplitude and fluency seem to be remarkable objective aesthetic qualities when perceiving motion aesthetics of dance skills. The observed dance skills’ complexity appears to be a critical parameter when addressing observers with different expertise.

KEYWORDS:

• Biological motion perception
• empirical aesthetics
• performing arts
• stick-figure video sequences
• likert-scale ratings

Acknowledgments

I want to thank Bettina Bläsing and Thomas Heinen for critical comments, shared expertise, and useful discussions to the study and former versions of this manuscript.

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pia M. Vinken

Pia M. Vinken (Ph.D.), is a post-doc researcher at the Institute of Sport Science of the Georg-August-University Göttingen. Previously, she has been on faculty at the German Sport University Cologne and the Leibniz University Hannover. She currently researches a project on the aesthetics of complex movements addressing questions on which motion stimuli are perceived as aesthetically from which observers and in what settings. She teaches students and graduates in physical education and sport science with a particular focus on movement science, sport psychology, and motor learning in the applied fields of artistic sports and performing arts.